Time and the Jedi
by the-writer1988
Summary: The Doctor and Donna are crashing. Inside the Jedi Temple. On Coruscant. Right in the way of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Doctor Who/Star Wars crossover. Complete!
1. Prologue

**Welcome everyone to my first ever - and likely to be the only crossover I ever write - fic between Doctor Who and Star Wars. This story stars the 10th Doctor and his companion Donna Noble. And they period of Star Wars history is during the Clone Wars and will star Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. So... without further ado, I present to you, the crossover!**

* * *

 **Title:** Time and the Jedi

 **Author:** the-writer1988 (with reddwarfaddict helping out)

 **Rating:** T

 **Characters:** 10th Doctor, Donna Noble, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who or Star Wars. The BBC owns Doctor Who and Disney owns Star Wars.

 **Summary:** The Doctor and Donna are crashing. Inside the Jedi Temple. On Coruscant. Right in the way of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.

* * *

I just want to say a **BIG THANK YOU** t **o reddwarfaddict,** who not only helped me with the plot, but she also did a fantastic job editing the story, and kept on bolstering me to finish this thing! But most of all, when I was truly stuck and I couldn't write what I wanted to, she stepped up to the plate and has written a few scenes in this story which have greatly helped me. Consequently, the first scene of this story, is from her, rather than myself. Without reddwarfaddict this story wouldn't even have a prologue!

Thank you!

* * *

 **Prologue**

As he rose to consciousness, the first thing the Doctor realised was that he was lying in a pool of blood.

For a brief moment the Doctor wondered whose blood it was, before the pain hit him like a high-speed train slamming into his entire body. The shock of the pain made him cough; his entire body jolting and rippling through with what felt like fire as the ejection of his breath sent dust up from the barren ground - dust that went straight back into his nose and made him cough some more. Eventually he managed to get it under control, and fully opened his eyes.

He was lying on his side in some sort of rundown warehouse - walls seemingly crumbling around his very ears - and he was even lying on a pile of broken wood and slates. The reason for that quickly became apparent as he turned his head to look directly upwards at a rather large and somewhat Doctor-shaped hole in the ceiling.

The Time Lord coughed again, trying to force himself to get up, but he only managed to raise one leg before it dropped redundantly back down. His entire body was still on fire.

He could remember every detail - every facet of what Sidious had done to him, and even the memory of it hurt. He knew it had been Force Lightning, just as Obi Wan had described, and the Doctor could tell that the amount used on him meant Sidious had meant to kill him. He so very nearly had. It had taken over the Doctor completely - his entire body wrapped in electricity, coursing up and down his flesh and bone body for what had felt like days. The Doctor had fought, fought so hard to stay conscious, to stop Sidious from taking the TARDIS - but in the end it had been too much. He'd passed out. He had no idea what had happened after that.

But one thing was for definite. Sidious now had the TARDIS. And although the Doctor had only just arrived in this universe, he knew that Darth Sidious having a time travelling machine was a very, _very_ bad suitcase. He needed to get up, get back to the Jedi Temple and find a way to get his TARDIS back.

Wait, where was Donna?

The Doctor's eyes bolted open wide as the thought hit him, before he forced himself to look around to try and find an appropriately-shaped humanoid next to him. But he couldn't see her.

"Donna?" he tried, but even his voice box seemed to be on fire and as a result the word came out sounding like a chainsaw. He coughed again, plucked up some courage and tried again. "Donna!"

Only his own chainsaw voice echoed back to him.

He wasn't going to like it, but he had to get up.

He took a few long deep breaths... and sat up. He bit his lip, forcing the endorphins to flood his system to try and numb the pain. It didn't seem to work, but now he was committed. He drew back his legs, positioned his hands and pushed himself upright in one swift movement. Unfortunately the nearly caused him to fall forward onto his face but he managed to catch himself on a wooden support strut, panting.

"Donna?" he tried again, but he already knew she wasn't there. Did Sidious still have her? _Please no..._

He saw the door - or at least, a gap in the wall. He moved towards it (one foot in front of the other, if the pain would let him recall the act of walking correctly) and stepped out into the open.

He barely had any time to take in his surroundings before a figure suddenly appeared, stepping out of seemingly nowhere. It was humanoid but it looked like a squid, with many long tentacles coming out of its face. It had two big fangs that were chipped and yellow, and dark piercing eyes. To round it all off, it was holding a gun.

"You look lost," it grated.

The Doctor's head felt like his brain was twice the size of his skull, so could barely think of a line to defuse what was obviously about to happen. "S-sorry," he ended up stuttering.

"Sorry!?" the alien repeated, snarling. "You look rich, gimme your credits."

"I d-don't have any c-credits..." he managed to say, his mouth struggling to forms words.

"GIVE ME YOUR CREDITS!" the alien yelled, and shoved the gun right in the Doctor's face. Seconds later, three more of the alien's kind stepped out of the shadows, staring at the Time Lord with horrible grins. The Doctor's eyes dropped to their hands, in which they held an array of sharp and blunt objects he was very sure he was going to feel the end of whether he had any credits or not.

He tensed himself up, and prepared himself to regenerate.

* * *

Not that far from the Doctor's current position, Sidious sat on his throne in his Imperial Palace, formerly known as the Jedi Temple. His throne room had once been the largest training hall for youngsters hoping to learn the ways of the despicable Jedi. It had given him great joy to see the room transferred from a training hall to a throne room during his Jedi Purge. He had ensured victory for himself with the aid of the unsuspecting Doctor.

His enforcer was feared amongst the Republic as someone not to cross. His power was great, rivalling his own. One day he would be stronger than Sidious.

The Sith felt like smiling cruelly. No one could stop him. Not the dead Doctor. And certainly not the prisoner who suffered in a prison cell below the throne room. Even now he could feel his pain and his fear…

And it was delicious…

 **To be continued...**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

 **Chapter One will be posted next week. I will be updating weekly. This story is already fully prewritten.**

 **Until next time,**

 **the-writer1988**


	2. Chapter 1

**Here is the first chapter of my story... Here we go back in time to explore exactly how the Doctor got to where he was in the Prologue...**

 **Chapter One**

The day had progressed so well that for once Donna Noble had thought the Doctor had succeeded in ending a day without getting himself into trouble, or with them needing to run for their lives. The Doctor's ability to get easily into trouble was something Donna despaired about. Today had been a nice change from the ordinary hectic life he lived; they had spent the day exploring the market place of Chewa-Chiangu, an exotic world inhabited by many different species. The Doctor had been his usual self; hyperactive to the point of acting like a child. They had browsed the stalls, eaten a few strange foods, and Donna had even managed to find a present for her granddad before they had returned to the TARDIS.

Of course she had underestimated the Doctor. If he wasn't going to find trouble on Chewa-Chiangu then he would find it elsewhere. He always did. The Doctor seemed to attract trouble where ever he went.

"Hold on to something!" the Doctor yelled at her, as he bounded frantically around the console of his living time ship, the TARDIS. His hands moved quickly, trying to prevent the situation they were in; flipping switches and pulling levers before he looked up at Donna with a solemn expression on his face. Donna already knew what he was going to say to her wasn't going to be good.

"We're crashing."

Donna fought the irritation to roll her eyes. "Really, Time Boy!? I hadn't noticed! Is that why I feel like we're about to die!?" she shouted sarcastically over the screaming of the TARDIS.

"We shouldn't be crashing!" insisted the Doctor. "It was all working fine just a few minutes ago!"

"I dunno, was it something you did!?" shouted Donna, holding onto one of the coral struts.

"Of course it isn't!" he replied, indignant that this was not his fault.

"Nothing is your fault is it?" she grated as the Doctor clutched at the console, still desperately trying to stop their descent. "Where are we crashing?"

The Doctor chewed his bottom lip, thinking as Donna continued to lurch from side to side. "We're going to go flying out of the Vortex any minute now and crash onto any random planet in space and time," and then he turned a big, cheesy grin on her. "Isn't it exciting?"

"Oh yes, exciting!" huffed Donna, feeling like she could slap him again. How could anyone find crashing fun? Perhaps it was an alien thing? Donna briefly wondered if all Time Lords had been like this.

"Hold on, Donna!" The Doctor pulled at the controls.

"I _am_ holding on!" she yelled back.

Suddenly a loud donging echoed through the control room. Donna looked at the Doctor. "What is that?"

"It means we're in trouble!" replied the Doctor, still trying to gain control of the TARDIS.

"Well, _of course_ we're in trouble," Donna said, half exasperation and half fear. "But this sounds like even worse trouble!"

"Cloister bell!" the Doctor yelled as sparks erupted from the console, scorching his fingers. "Ow!"

"Can't you fix it?" screamed Donna frantically as more sparks continued to fly from the console, with a small fire starting to the left of the Doctor. The TARDIS was still shaking uncontrollably.

"I'm trying!" shouted the Doctor. He was clearly frustrated at his lack of control over his beloved TARDIS. Then he looked up at the monitor, and his eyes widened. "Brace yourself!"

Donna latched onto the nearest post like her life depended on it, hoping she'd be able to see her grandfather again. But as the Time Lord leaned forward to flick another switch, a huge spark burst out of the console, right in the Doctor's face. He fell back, flinging his arms in front of him. Scorch marks appeared on his skin and Donna saw blood drip down his cheek.

"DOCTOR!"

The TARDIS buckled and Donna fought to maintain her grip on the coral strut. The buckling got worse and she gritted her teeth, watching as the Doctor fought back against the console, his eyes and face filled with worry.

"This isn't working!" he yelled. His eyes flickered towards the screen. "Not good! We are –"

He was cut off as a loud wailing noise sounded throughout the ship followed by a tremendous bang.

And then Donna went flying, nearly hitting her head on the grated floor, but she somehow managed to twist and fall onto her hands instead. The palms of her hands stung sharply as she scraped her skin on the metal.

"DONNA! Grab something!" The Doctor had abandoned the console and was holding onto one of the coral struts.

She scrambled back to her feet and ran back to the strut she had been holding. She saw that the console was now in flames, burning it completely, and then –

BANG!

The TARDIS tumbled and shuddered violently and Donna found she couldn't hold on as the space ship swirled around her.

"We're out of the vortex!" yelled the Doctor.

And then they were flying around the console room unable to grab hold of anything to maintain their balance. The TARDIS was completely out of control.

The console flamed up once again, pieces of coral falling from the ceiling. A sudden bang sent them both flying again. Donna slammed into the wall, falling to the floor. Her fingers grabbed the grating on the floor, clutching it tightly.

The Doctor had not been so fortunate. He was lying on the floor unconscious, his body rolling around as the TARDIS continued to buckle. She could see blood on his forehead.

"DOCTOR!"

He didn't respond.

Then everything stopped as the TARDIS made one last bang and shuddered to a halt.

* * *

The halls of the Jedi Temple were quiet. Almost too quiet for Obi-Wan Kenobi after being on the frontline of a never-ending war, where silence was considered a time to sleep rather than to relax and enjoy one self. Though to be fair, he hadn't actually been at war for a while…

 _Don't think about it, Kenobi,_ he scolded himself. "The last thing I want is to be sent back to the mind healers, _again_."

"Yeah, and you might want to stop talking to yourself if you don't want that to happen."

Obi-Wan turned. His fellow Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker, was walking towards him. He had an odd satisfactory smirk on his face. "I get the impression you liked it when I was having my mind looked at then?" Of course, Anakin had always thought him strange.

Anakin shrugged. "It was nice to have confirmation that you were sane after all…"

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "Why do I put up with you?" he muttered under his breath.

"Because you were the only one brave enough to take me on as your Padawan," smiled Anakin.

"Indeed," muttered Obi-Wan, starting to walk away again.

And then something suddenly appeared in front of him. Out of thin air, a bright blue wooden box materialised, spinning out of control, slamming into the walls with terrifying speed and smoke trailing from it in large, black billows as it swivelled around.

"What the –" Obi-Wan felt someone pull him back with the Force and he landed beside Anakin on the floor.

The younger man had activated his lightsaber, watching the spinning object as it slammed around the hall, causing small dents to appear in the thick walls. A statue of a revered Jedi Master didn't do much to slow the box's progress and it burst apart, its pieces falling to the marble floor, shattering even more.

"Anakin!"

Obi-Wan scrambled to his feet, leapt at Anakin and pushed him to the ground as the object suddenly changed trajectory and came straight at them. He grabbed his lightsaber from his belt, activated it and swung the blade at the spinning blue box as it swept neatly over his head.

His lightsaber did not make a dent.

"What the-?" He didn't finish as he was forced to duck as the box spun back over his head. _What is this thing?_

Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw two younglings walk into the hallway, close to where the spinning object was very quickly heading. "Look out!" Without a thought to what his action could mean, Obi-Wan reached out with the Force, grabbed hold of the blue box and pulled.

He had underestimated his own strength and how much the box must have weighed for it to stay in flight. Obi-Wan's eyes widened in surprise as he struggled to maintain the Force grip, the box nearly jerking out of his hold. He had put in a lot of Force power to drag it back, and still it resisted.

"MASTER! LOOK OUT!" Anakin screamed from behind him.

But it was too late.

With his concentration completely on the blue box, his reflexes didn't kick in fast enough, despite the Force screaming at him to move. The strange object slammed right into him. Obi-Wan's feet left the ground, grabbing madly into the Force to prevent the crash he knew was coming but he was just dazed enough he couldn't regain his concentration to manipulate the Force to rescue himself. His head smashed hard into the wall behind him. Pain erupted at the back of his skull, his vision blurring as he struggled to maintain a grip on consciousness. As the blue box moved upwards, continuing in its spin of destruction, the edge of it clipped his head. Liquid trickled down his forehead before he felt darkness close in.

* * *

Donna was so used to the Doctor talking that the silence was unnerving and unnatural. It had been so loud just moments before, her ears ringing from the craziness of the situation, but now Donna was almost afraid to move in fear that the TARDIS would suddenly jump to life again, but her thoughts for the Doctor's welfare overcame her fear. She jumped to her feet and rushed over to his prone and still body. If the TARDIS went haywire again he would be completely vulnerable.

"Please don't be dead…" she pleaded.

Blood decorated his brown suit that he seemed to love so much, and parts of his hair was sticky with dried blood and other strands were mixing with the still flowing blood leaking from the deep gash on the side of his head. A quick confirmation told Donna his dual hearts were still beating away. Donna looked for a tissue or rag or _anything_ to push against the bleeding wound.

She looked down at the top she wore, a button-down black shirt underneath the cardigan. Grunting, she ripped a bit off the end of the shirt, scrunching the soft fabric into a ball and gently began to sponge the blood away from the Doctor's forehead.

"Wake up!" she hissed, but he didn't.

She dabbed at his forehead, stemming the bleeding as best she could with the piece of cloth. The Doctor would owe her a new shirt… if he ever woke up.

Queasiness squeezed her stomach. The bleeding had stopped and he still wasn't waking up. He had a nasty bruise forming on his forehead around the cut. Donna bit her lip, wondering what she should do. She had several choices: wait and hope the Doctor regained consciousness or risk looking outside to see where they had landed, perhaps find medical aid for the Doctor. The answer was obvious once she had thought of the two choices she had. Her friend needed help and she was no doctor, and she had no idea where the medical supplies were on the TARDIS. She'd have to rip into him about that later.

She had to risk going outside.

She looked back over her shoulder at the TARDIS door, fear compounding in her gut, but her resolve quickly hardened and Donna made her decision.

With a grunt, she hefted the Doctor up under his arms and began to drag him towards the doors. He was heavy and his hands were dragging along the floor. To think she'd bemoaned him for being too skinny, yet when she needed him to be light, he felt like he was a killer whale.

"God, for someone so skinny, you are _heavy_!" she groaned out, despite not expecting an answer. Since travelling with the Doctor and his dangerous lifestyle, she'd found that things tended to feel less worrying to her when she was insulting him. It wasn't working now he wasn't replying.

After a few minutes of struggling with the Doctor's body weight, Donna reached the doors. She pulled at them and briefly looked outside. She couldn't see anything dangerous so she pulled the Doctor's limp body out of the TARDIS and onto polished marble flooring. She let go of him, panting slightly as she gazed at him laid supine on the floor. His head was still bleeding. He was so quiet. He didn't even twitch.

A strange feeling began to grow inside Donna - sickness, fear and resignation to the situation combining into one massive whole. How long had he been unconscious? Was it normal? How bad was he?

"Okay," Donna found herself saying. "I'm gonna get you help, just… stay here!"

She turned, and almost immediately yelped in alarm as she noticed for the first time that she was not alone.

A younger man was kneeling down beside another unconscious human male. Blood poured from a wound on the man's forehead, but suddenly Donna found herself feeling weary. She hadn't noticed him when she had briefly checked the surroundings.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry, I –" she started to say, but was interrupted by the man.

"Did you even bother to learn how to pilot that thing? Or did you just decide to take it for a spin and crash it?" the young man snapped, sounding quite angry and threatening as he slowly starting to rise away from the other man, his hand taking hold of something that was clipped onto his belt. A weapon?

Donna clocked that he was clearly quite young, and immediately felt annoyed at his callous, immature attitude. "Listen, sunshine! That wasn't our fault and you and me have got better things to do right now; we've both got friends here who need help! So you can either get off your mighty high horse and tell me where the hospital is or I'll –"

"Donna..."

Surprise flickered across Donna's face as she looked down at the Doctor. His eyes were not open but his lips were barely moving. She quickly dropped to his side, holding his cheek. "Doctor! What is it? What can I do? I'm getting' you help, okay, just don't panic!"

Wait. Was she giving him too much information? Was he even awake? Did he have a fever? Brain damage?

"Donna… Pl…ay… Ni….ce…."

"Are you awake? Doctor, we hit someone!"

Silence came back.

Donna harrumphed, acknowledging his words before turning back to the man. "Look," she said, controlling herself. Without the Doctor she'd have to take charge. "Sorry, I'm just worried about my friend."

"How do you think I'm feeling?" the man replied. "He," the young man nodded to the unconscious man behind him, "has only just got out of the hospital wing. He won't be pleased about going back. I've already called for aid. They'll be here shortly."

"Good. We got off on the wrong foot…" said Donna cautiously. "I'm Donna. Donna Noble."

The young man's lips tipped upwards. "Anakin Skywalker." He was slowly moving his hand away from his belt.

"Look we're sorry, we've never crashed this badly before," she said honestly. "Is he okay?" she asked, looking at the older man on the floor.

"Obi-Wan has had worse," Anakin told her. "The hospital wing can sort him and your friend out."

She nodded, finally relaxing with help on its way. She cast her gaze around the high hallway, a horrible feeling swept through her. Wherever she was, she didn't like it. Something felt completely wrong about the whole place.

She hated to admit it, but she'd feel a lot safer once the Doctor woke up.

She looked at him, still out for the count, and sighed. This was going to be a long wait.

* * *

Darth Sidious felt uneasy.

There had been a disturbance in the Force.

Something was here that shouldn't be… Someone was here with the power to meddle in his plans…

The dark side of the Force circled around him. Carefully, he reached out and projected his power towards the Jedi Temple. He knew the disturbance he had felt must have come from the infernal Jedi Order. Oh he'd like to see those meddlesome fools meet their maker. They would soon see…

 _The Jedi Order will soon be exterminated,_ he thought. His plans were in motion to ensure the fall of _that_ Order would happen in his lifetime. He would be the Sith that succeeded.

He detected a strange presence within the Temple. The Temple that would soon be burnt down.

The presence he could sense was neither light nor dark. Truthfully it almost seemed as if he could feel _both_ coming from it. A warning shuddered through the Force again. This presence was a threat to him.

"I must find out what this _feeling_ is…" He couldn't rely on the Jedi to tell him. The Jedi Council was becoming more and more secretive as the Clone Wars continued. He did, however, have business at the Jedi Temple in a few days. It would be the perfect time to discover more about this new threat.

He would find this threat and eliminate it.

Darth Sidious smiled. The time was coming. He would soon eliminate all opposition. Not even this new threat would stand in his way to galactic domination.

 **To be continued...**

 **Please let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello! Thank you for the reviews! Here is the next chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

The darkness in front of his eyes seemed to waver as consciousness slowly returned to him. His head pounded, and the bright light shining down only made him want to go back into the darkness.

"Oi, no you don't mister! You're awake now and you're stayin' awake!"

The Doctor groaned. "H…ell….o, Do….nna."

"If he doesn't want to wake up yet, then do not force him. He is my patient," said an unfamiliar voice.

"No… no… that's….alright," muttered the Doctor before Donna could get a word in. Wherever he was, he didn't want Donna upsetting the healers that had clearly helped them in the aftermath of the…

He sat up straight, suddenly wide awake, ignoring the thudding pain in his head as his eyes fixed on Donna. "Where's the TARDIS?"

Donna looked stunned at his sudden return to consciousness. She pointed behind her. "Back in the hallway. Where we crashed."

The Doctor started to scramble out of bed, but was pulled back by someone on the other side of him.

"You have a nasty head injury," said a soft, watery voice. "I cannot permit you to leave this ward."

The Doctor looked up at the person gently pushing him back down onto the bed. Standing next to him was an amphibious humanoid species, with salmon-coloured skin, webbed hands, with a high domed head and huge fish-like eyes. "I really hope Donna didn't call you fish-head when she saw you…"

Someone hit him on the arm hard. "Doctor!" the dulcet tone of Donna Noble echoed in his ears.

"Your friend did not say that," said the alien.

"That's surprising, she usually does," the Doctor muttered.

Another punch on the arm.

"Ow! Do you have to be so violent?" he protested.

"Stop insulting me!" retorted Donna angrily.

The alien caught her gaze. "Donna, your friend is concussed. I'll put him back to sleep. When he wakes again he won't be," said the healer.

"Aww, I don't wanna go back to sleep." The Doctor pouted. "I wanna find the TARDIS. Where's the TARDIS?"

"Where we crashed," Donna told him patiently. Her best friend in school had once been concussed by a stray ball to the head in the playground. Donna had spent about twenty minutes telling her that she hadn't left her straighteners on.

"TARDIS? I need my TARDIS," he repeated.

"Doctor, the TARDIS is fine."

"Where is it then?" the Doctor slurred. "TARDIS."

"Back where we crashed," replied Donna.

"We crashed? Why did the TARDIS crash?" He felt woozy as he felt something being injected into his blood stream. His eyes closed once more.

* * *

After the Doctor had gone to sleep again, Donna decided to look around. She stepped out of the Doctor's room and looked down the white-painted hallway. A few doors down from the room was the man that had been injured by the TARDIS.

She stepped up to the open door, seeing Anakin sat next to Obi Wan. She knocked.

Anakin looked up. "Hello."

"Can I come in?" she asked.

"I guess so," said Anakin, his voice sounding slightly sullen.

Donna stepped inside. There was a second seat next to Anakin and she plonked herself down on it. "How's he doing?"

"He'll be fine," Anakin told her.

There was an awkward silence. "So… where are we?" Donna ended up saying.

Anakin looked incredulously at her. "You don't know where you are?"

"Somewhere upmarket?" Donna assumed.

"You could say that."

The awkward silence returned.

"So," Anakin leaned back in his chair. "Where are you from?"

She paused, wondering what to tell him. "Chiswick," she eventually answered.

Anakin frowned. "Hmm. Never heard of it. Is it far from here?"

"Err… Yes?" she ventured, trying not to look him directly in the eye. "Sorry, usually the Doctor is the one who does this. Not me."

"You are going to have to come up with some better answers then what you have been giving me," pointed out Anakin. "The Jedi Council will be seeing you in an hour."

"I can't go without the Doctor," said Donna.

"You'll be questioned separately," continued Anakin. "And you don't have a choice in that. The only reason you are not in a cell is because you are unarmed and we do not sense anything dangerous about you."

Donna knew she was in quite a pickle. What on earth could she say to this council? And then she looked at Anakin again, a thought striking her. "What is a Jedi?"

Anakin just looked at her in surprise and shock.

* * *

"How can you not know what a Jedi is?" stammered Anakin.

"We're not from around here…?" replied the woman sitting next to him.

"I come from a planet that is far away from here," retorted Anakin, "where Jedi barely go. Yet I knew of them." He fixed his eyes upon Donna, now starting to feel a bit wary about her lack of knowledge. Where had they come from? That ship of theirs had just suddenly appeared.

Donna was biting her bottom lip. "What do you want me to say?"

"To tell me the truth," replied Anakin.

"I am telling you the truth!" shouted Donna. He could see that she was getting angry.

Anakin shook his head. "From a certain point of view you are, yes, but I can sense you are withholding a lot of information. Holding things back isn't going to help you in front of the Council."

"You can _READ_ my mind?" Donna jumped up, backing away from Anakin.

"Not really but Jedi are very good at sensing when people are trying to hide things from them, even by coating it with a grain of truth. We know when we are being lied to." Anakin looked down at Obi-Wan. He could sense through their old Master-Apprentice bond that Obi-Wan was slowly waking up. "I know you are concerned for your friend, just like I am for Obi-Wan, but you, Donna Noble, are an enigma. There is something about you that I can't place." He could sense that… She was special, but her destiny was still far away yet she seemed ordinary.

"I'm not special," grated Donna.

"Suit yourself," shrugged Anakin. And then he felt something tug on the bond he shared with Obi-Wan. He glanced down and saw his Master beginning to moan, sweat trickling down his face and into his beard, and his head beginning to move from side to side. "Oh no…"

Donna moved forward. "What? What is it?"

Anakin looked up at Donna. "Go and get Bant!"

"I don't know who Bant is!" Donna replied anxiously.

"The Mon Calamari!" replied Anakin, turning his attention back to Obi-Wan, who was beginning to fight against Anakin, who was trying to hold him down.

"What's a Mon Clamry?!"

Anakin did _not_ have time for this. "The giant fish woman who's with your friend!"

He saw the woman leave the room but he needed to calm his Master. "Master! It's a dream! You are not there anymore! Stop it!"

Anakin reached into the Force and probed the bond he shared with Obi-Wan. It was fraught and darkness seeped through it – the aftereffects of what Obi-Wan had suffered. He was struggling with the memories and right now, he was back in that place… in that horrible, dark and terrible place…

Anakin grabbed Obi-Wan by the cheeks, sending soothing waves through the bond and into Obi-Wan, trying to calm the man down.

"Anakin!" Donna had returned with Bant.

"Here, let me," instructed Bant, holding up an injector. "I'm going to wake him up. He will be disorientated. Be prepared for him to fight you."

Anakin nodded. "Right." He peered at Donna. "Donna, hold his legs down. Don't let him kick you."

The woman quickly moved forward and grabbed Obi-Wan's ankles.

Bant pressed the injector to Obi-Wan's wrist. The clear, white liquid trickled down the cannula and into his blood stream. Seconds later, Obi-Wan leapt up, his body shuddering as he fought against Anakin, Donna and Bant.

"Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan, its ok. You are not there anymore," whispered Anakin into his Master's ear. A few minutes later, Obi-Wan began to relax, his struggle relenting and Anakin deemed it safe to release him. "No one is going to hurt you again."

"Anakin…" Obi-Wan whispered, his eyes were glazed over. "What… what… what happened?"

Anakin gently smiled, rubbing his Master's back. He had gotten used to calming Obi-Wan down but it still hurt to see his Master suffering. "You took a nasty bump to the head."

Obi-Wan continued to blink, as if he was trying to clear his eyes. "Am I really here?"

"Yes you are. You are not dreaming, Master," replied Anakin quietly. It pulled at his heart to see him like this.

"Oh…" Obi-Wan seemed surprise.

"Anakin," began Bant quietly. "I need to run some tests. Why don't you step outside with Donna? I won't be long."

Anakin nodded. He didn't want to leave Obi-Wan alone with Bant but over the weeks he had spent in the hospital wing with Obi-Wan, he had soon come to learn that leaving the healers to their job was the better option than getting in the way. He motioned to Donna and led her outside of the room. He leaned back against the wall, his eyes fixed on the now closed door to his Master's room.

"Is… is he… alright?" asked Donna.

Anakin sighed. Could he really tell her? Could he trust her? It was going to come out anyway… The whole Jedi Temple knew anyway, though most didn't know the exact details.

"You don't have to say…" added Donna quietly. "Sorry."

"It's ok," replied Anakin. "Obi-Wan… he… he's been hurt badly. We are at war. In wars bad things happen to good people. My former Master is one of them. He was captured and tortured. His mind was nearly ripped to shreds. He is a senior member of our Order and holds vital information about the war effort. It took us a month to find and rescue him." He clenched his fists. "It was Dooku. He had taken Obi-Wan and tortured him. My apprentice and I were lucky to find him when we did. Obi-Wan suffers from nightmares because of what was done to him. He has moments when he is back with _them-_ " the thought of Dooku and Ventress who had inflicted such terrible injuries on his Master made Anakin's blood boil – "and he thinks it is real. That is when he fights. It usually happens when he is sleeping or unconscious." He sighed. "Obi-Wan was only discharged from the hospital wing yesterday. I think he's hit a new record. Barely twenty-four hours after being discharged, he's back in the ward again."

"I'm sorry about your friend," said Donna. "We didn't mean to crash…"

Anakin looked at her, a sad expression on his face. "You need to convince the Council of that, or you'll get questioned again," he replied, "and probably arrested if there is still inconsistences."

"Why are you being so helpful?"

Anakin shrugged. "Because I don't think you are dangerous. Where ever you came from, you do not mean us any harm. If you did, I wouldn't be so friendly to you."

"Oh. Thanks."

Anakin looked down at his com-link. "It's nearly time for you to go and see the Council. I think Bant is going to be a while with Obi-Wan. No matter what she says, she will give him a thorough check-over. I can escort you to the Council chambers if you like?"

"Since I don't know where I am going…" Donna trailed off.

Anakin just grinned.

* * *

The Doctor woke.

He was alone in a room.

Looking down at his wrist he saw a cannula in but he wasn't hooked up to anything. He pulled himself out of bed, noting that he was wearing beige trousers and a top. Where was his suit? He moved forward and opened the door stepping out into a corridor which was painted white however there were a few pictures on the wall.

He couldn't see Donna anywhere. They were not in the TARDIS, that was for certain.

"Can I help you?"

The Doctor turned around and saw a fish-like creature standing behind him, which he recognised as belonging to the Mon Calamari species. "Where is Donna and where is my suit?" And then he realised he was being rude. "Oh, I'm the Doctor."

"Yes, your friend Donna told us. She is talking to the Jedi Council. You are next. I'm Bant by the way."

"The Jedi Council?" The Doctor sounded very surprised and a bit confused. "Wait, are we on Coruscant or Yavin 4?"

"Why would the Jedi Temple be on Yavin 4?" Bant asked, sounding puzzled.

"Err… ah… erm…. Never mind." The Doctor looked around the hallway. His time sense seemed to be shifting, showing him things that may or may not happen in this universe… Various images were flickering throughout his mind. He would have to be careful to not slip up when it came to mentioning possible future events, as per usual. It did, however, beg the question, why couldn't he sense anything that was a fixed point in time? The future was constantly in flux. "Where is my brown suit?"

"It's being washed and repaired for you. Your friend informed us you had a great attachment to that suit…" Bant trailed off.

"I have an attachment to a suit?" The Doctor blinked in surprise. How did that figure? Because he liked wearing it all the time? He shook his head, bemused. "Will Donna be back soon?"

"When the Council are finished talking to her, yes. But since you are awake, you will be going straight to them. You will not be able to talk to your friend until the Council are happy that you are not dangerous. Anakin is vouching for you," explained Bant.

The Doctor filed that name away for later. He now had an idea where and when they were now based on the small bits of information he had. The trouble was, they clearly thought they could be spies. "We crashed didn't we?" He needed clarification of that.

"You did," replied Bant. "And you hurt my best friend."

"I'm sorry. Unintentional," said the Doctor, looking around the room. He desperately needed to talk to Donna.

"Hmm." Bant started to walk away. "I will escort you to the Council when your friend returns."

The Doctor nodded. He needed to figure out what he was going to say by anticipating what Donna would say. These people were the Jedi. They knew a lie when they heard it. He hoped Donna would be honest with them; they were dangerous people if you got on the wrong side of them.

Now, all he could was wait until she returned. He needed to mentally prepare himself for the grilling that was sure to come.

 **To be continued!**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

 **First I just want to address Obi-Wan's capture mentioned in this chapter. Originally this story was going to take place just after the Jabiim events in the DArk Horse Comics where Obi-Wan was MIA and captured by Ventress. Anakin was still an apprentice at the time. However I changed the timeline whilst writing this story and I decided to keep the Obi-Wan captured story but alter it to better fit this universe: with Ahsoka as Anakin's Apprentice. It was also to try to fit Ahsoka in to the story as well.**

 **The next chapter will be posted this coming week!**

 **the-writer1988**


	4. Chapter 3

**Thank you for the reviews so far! Here is the next chapter...**

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

Donna stood in the centre of a circular room in a high tower which overlooked the bristling city that the Jedi Temple stood in. She had not had the opportunity to even see outside the Temple since their crash, but now that she did, Donna found herself distracted by the many vehicles and star ships flying past the Temple's huge windows.

That was until she noticed the Jedi Council members, all of whom were made up of different species. She didn't even know where to look or to focus on first. They all looked intimidating. There were twelve seats in total but only eleven Jedi sat. She wondered where the twelfth was. There were a few humans scattered around the circle, or what could be passed as near human, some even had small horns around their head. There was a Jedi there who had hard snakes coming out of her head – three of them, falling down her shoulders and back, _Snake Lady,_ thought Donna; another Jedi who had a long white beard, small beady eyes and a snakes tail for the other half of his body but it was the large amount of facial hair that made Donna dub him 'God', because he visually represented her image of what God traditionally looked like; and there was another Jedi that reminded her of Bane from Batman. She had seen only recently seen it with the Doctor when he had forced her to the premiere. Another Jedi had what looked like to be dreadlocks growing out of his head, but were clearly appendages native to his anatomy.

But there was one of them who seemed to be the oddest of them all. His size clearly did not matter for him to be on this Council. He was small and green and had little tufts of hair growing at the top of his head. He resembled a frog.

"Hmm… tell us your name, you will," the small green frog said. His English was rather backward. She tried not to laugh.

Donna stood in the centre unsure of how truthful she could be, ever mindful of Anakin's warning that Jedi knew when they were being lied to. What would the Doctor do? Would these Jedi be able to read his mind? He was a Time Lord… "Donna. Donna Noble." There was no harm in giving her real name after all. They had never hidden their names from people before, though the Doctor did sometimes call himself 'John Smith'.

"Where are you from?" This question from a human male (well, Donna assumed he was human male, who knew what his insides were like? He could be like the Doctor and have two hearts for all she knew).

"Earth."

"Where is its location?" the human male pressed.

Donna swallowed. "The solar system. The Milky Way?" She knew she sounded unsure. She didn't know galactic co-ordinates. But that was the truth. That was all she knew about her own galaxy. If they wanted specific galactic co-ordinates, that wasn't going to happen.

The Council members looked around at one another, and Donna had the distinct impression she hadn't said what they wanted to hear.

"Who is your associate and where does he come from?" Snake Lady enquired.

Donna frowned. Snake-lady had given her a very difficult question to answer. How could she respond? Knowing the names of her interrogators would have been useful. The names she had conjured didn't seem appropriate to say aloud. She bit her lip, wondering exactly what to say that wouldn't get her or the Doctor in trouble. She sighed. "He's the Doctor. I don't know his real name and he never gives it." She did know where he was from, him having heard him say it when they had first met. "I think he once told me he came from some place called Gallifrey. I don't know where that is. We've never been."

"Hmm. Two planets we are unfamiliar with, yes, hmmm," muttered the green frog.

"Though there are still portions of this galaxy that we have not yet branched out into. The Unknown Regions could house these planets," said the male human.

The human male had the demeanour of an arrogant stick-up-his-backside look. He didn't look very welcoming.

"How did you get here?" God questioned.

Donna shrugged. "I dunno. The Doctor's ship can just appear anywhere in time and space."

"In time and space?" Arrogant Stick replied, looking for clarification but also sounding slightly intrigued by the phrase Donna had used.

 _Well done, Donna_ _,_ she chastised herself.

"What do you mean by this, Donna Noble?" asked Snake Head.

"It travels in space…" she answered, trying to figure out what to say. How could she explain this? She had the overwhelming sense that trying to be snarky and displaying her usual self wouldn't be the best idea. She tried to bluster her way through. "It's a space ship."

The Council members glanced around at one another as if Donna had been stating the obvious.

"A spaceship that travels through space… right. Anything else?" The hard glare of Arrogant Stick penetrated her. He knew she was attempting to dance around the subject. He seemed dangerous. Not someone she would want to meet in a dark alley.

"Uh…" Donna hesitated. She had already messed up by mentioning 'in time and space'. These people were not stupid. "A time ship maybe?" she added subdued. "If that's what's it called."

"You could go anywhere in time, then," Dreadlocks stated. "Change the past, alter the future?"

Now she was in a sticky position. "There are these rules but I really don't know much about 'em. The Doctor is your man – thing – Time Lord – person to ask."

"So you are saying that your friend can travel into the past and the future?"

Donna cursed inwardly. She had basically confirmed that even though she had tried to find a way around it. Bane from Batman had leapt to the correct conclusion. "Look, you need to ask the Doctor. I really don't know anything about that, I'm just a passenger."

Arrogant Stick Person frowned at her, his eyes hardening. It irked her that he could intimidate her, usually she was the one doing the imitating. She hated being the one to concede.

"Did you intentionally attack the Jedi Temple?" Dreadlock Jedi said, though Donna thought the 'dreadlocks' seemed more like octopus legs coming out of his head.

 _Maybe I should call him Octopus-head?_ she thought.

"No. It was an accident," she protested quickly.

"That remains to be seen," Arrogant Stick Person replied.

Donna sighed. She knew she wasn't making a good lasting impression on them. She was trying to be truthful without giving away too many of the Doctor's secrets.

"Are you both human?" God asked her.

"No. I am, but the Doctor isn't," she answered. Thankfully a question she could answer without having any qualms over.

"If you are human, then what is this Doctor?" Bane from Batman enquired.

"He's ahh… he's… " Donna was stumped. If she admitted Time Lord she would be in trouble. But what could she say? Well aware that lying wasn't the best thing to do, she felt her only chance was to make something up. Martians were from Mars… Could it be Gallifreyan? She took a punt, the only chance she had. "Gallifreyan, I guess," she answered, putting as much faith in that answer as she had.

The Jedi Council looked around at one another.

"Time Lord you said earlier, hmmm?" Frog mused.

Donna paused, realising with a mild pang of horror she had unintentionally said it earlier..

"That's his…err… title," stammered Donna, hastily attempting to cover her tracks. "Look, all I know is his name is the Doctor. That's it. He's a bit of a weird question mark."

"Why should we believe you are not our enemies?" Snake Head asked, leaning forward in her chair.

They had chosen to ignore her explanation to the 'Time Lord' question, perhaps attempting to unnerve her further. "Do I _look_ dangerous to you?" asked Donna seriously.

"That is not the question," the little green frog replied. "Dangerous you may not feel to be, but dangerous you could be."

 _Little green frog, you really like talking in riddles,_ sighed Donna inwardly. "Look, all we want to do is get back to the TARDIS and leave." As much as she was intrigued to see the world outside the Council windows, it just seemed too much hassle if it meant trying to please a group of crotchety old fools.

"I am afraid we cannot allow that," Arrogant Stick Person said sternly. "We are at war. Allowing you to leave without us ruling everything out could lead us to ruin. The Republic is already standing on a knife edge."

"But we're not dangerous," said Donna, more half-hearted than anything else.

"We cannot take your word for that," said God, stroking his burly white hair.

"You gonna keep us prisoner here then? Last time I looked, that was against the law!" she snapped angrily, despite not knowing whether that was against the law here or not.

"The Jedi are separate from the Republic," Dreadlocks replied. "We have our own laws and rules that the Republic respects. If someone invades our home and threatens us, we have every right to detain them for as long as we see fit. Anyone who will consider to be dangerous fits this category."

"But we're not dangerous!" shouted Donna, still annoyed.

"The Force will decide if trust you we can," the little green troll-frog thing answered. His backward speech patterns continued to frustrate Donna.

"We will consider your words and inform you as to where we will go from here," said Arrogant Person. "We will talk to your companion as soon as we are given clearance to."

Donna wanted to mutter under her breath that the Doctor was hardly going to tell them anything but she didn't want to turn the Council against them completely. She had probably messed up… _The Doctor is going to kill me._ "And when will we know your decision?"

"When we have decided," the hard gaze didn't waver from the arrogant man's face.

Donna sighed.

* * *

"So, how did it go?" asked Anakin as Donna returned to the Halls of Healing.

Donna shrugged. "I answered what they wanted."

"Good. How did you find them?" he queried. He'd had his issues with the Council in the past. The only one of them he respected was Obi-Wan and he had been promoted not that long ago.

"A bit stuffy. I was surprised you had God on your Council," responded Donna.

"God?" Anakin felt confused. What did she mean by that?

"Oh you know, the being who created us all…who created the Earth in seven days… Personally I think it is all rubbish," fluffed Donna. She started to count on her fingers. "And then of course there was the green frog and Very Important Person… oh and Snake Head… and some fish with dreadlocks…"

"Are you making up names for members of the Council?"

"How else am I supposed to refer to them then? No one introduced themselves! No one told me their name!" responded Donna. "And that's what I do. Like I call The Doctor 'Skinny-boy' 'cos he has no meat on him."

"I wonder what name you have for me since I'm on the Council too…" a soft voice said from behind them.

Donna cringed awkwardly and turned around to see Anakin's friend standing in the doorway. He'd woken up then and his facial expression seemed to be resigned to the inevitable.

Anakin sniggered, trying to keep a straight face despite his obvious laughter.

"It's not funny!" hissed Donna, already feeling like an idiot. Clearly Obi Wan usually filled the vacated seat she had noticed. Trust the Doctor's TARDIS to injure one of the Council members.

"Am I to believe that I am too ordinary to not have a colourful name?" queried Obi-Wan now seeming more amused than anything. "It's fairly obvious that 'Frog' is Yoda… 'Very Important Person' is Mace Windu; 'God' is Oppo Rancisis – it's the beard isn't it?; 'Dreadlocks' is Kit Fisto, and he isn't a fish, he's a Nautolan, a water dwelling species capable of living on land; and 'Snake Head' is Shaak Tii, even though they are not snakes they are a part of their anatomy… So what am I?"

"Uh..well, you...er..." Donna stumbled over her words. This Jedi was smart.

"Well…?" Obi-Wan prodded. Anakin couldn't stop shaking with laughter, despite his friend's glare levelling at him.

Donna looked embarrassed as she finally mumbled something.

Obi-Wan leaned forward. "What was that? I didn't quite catch it."

"Beardy?"

Anakin burst out into laughter again.

Obi-Wan stroked his hair-covered chin "Well, I do have a beard." He pulled a face. "I suppose it fits. Just please don't call me 'Beardy' to my face. And, Anakin, if you don't want to be given the chores that you _loathe_ doing, I suggest you stop laughing."

Anakin stopped.

"Better," smirked Obi-Wan.

"You shouldn't be allowed to threaten me with chores anymore. I'm not your apprentice," started Anakin.

"I'm still your superior. I'm a Master. On the Council. I will still outrank you," pointed out Obi-Wan. "Just a little warning, my former Apprentice. I'm sure Ahsoka would find it hilarious if I gave you the worst chores to do."

Anakin glared.

Donna laughed. She was liking these two Jedi more and more. At least they seemed nice. It was more than she had already felt for the Council in any case.

He glanced at Donna, mouthing at her: "He thinks he can still boss me around, but he won't."

He could tell Donna didn't believe that by the mere expression on her face.

Obi-Wan was already walking slowly back to his bed. "If you think you can mouth things to Donna behind my back without my knowing, think again! When I get out of here you will be doing chores. And I think the first of those would be spending a week helping Madam Jocasta out in the Library."

Anakin scowled even more.

Donna laughed. Clearly Anakin had issues with being in the vicinity of the Library.

* * *

Standing in the centre of the Council chambers, the Doctor intended to give the performance of his life – or rather harmless impression of himself.

"Your name if you please?" asked the little green one – Yoda – the Doctor remembered from his history. Or was that future?

"The Doctor."

"Where are you from?"

"The planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous…" He cast his gaze around the Council noting their dubious expressions. "Not heard of it? Not even a legend, a myth, anything?"

None of the Council Masters answered.

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "Blimey. I'm getting less and less famous by the day."

They moved straight onto the next question. "Who is your associate and where does she come from?"

"She's Donna Noble, a human from planet Earth, Sol 3, Milky Way, Mars Bar, whatever you call it," the Doctor answered, elaborating even more then he had to.

"Are you human too?" a Togrutan queried, her tendrils falling down both sides of her face and back. At least he could identify which species they were.

The Doctor pulled a face. "Who? Me? Oh no, noooo. Tried it once. Got a little house in Shropshire and a Labrador called Ringo, lived the life for two weeks and got very bored. Frankly I don't see how they cope. Did make some friends though, John and Joan, lovely elderly couple. Used to make vast quantities of upside down cake. Can't say I'm a fan."

"So what species are you?" the same Jedi pressed, clearly preferring a direct answer then the Doctor's incessant rambling.

"Gallifreyan clearly, since I'm from the planet Gallifrey."

The Council members seemed to nod to one another, exchanging glances. Clearly Donna had sounded like she had made up the Doctor's species. What had she said? The Doctor would have to ask her if he got the chance again.

"Why should we believe you are not our enemies?"

The Doctor slipped his hands into his pockets. "Why d'you assume a stranger is an enemy? I'm lovely. Just last week I helped this pregnant lady with her shopping. She said I had a heart of gold. I don't, that's a metaphor, but it was still lovely. Actually I have two. Hearts, that is, not metaphors. Did you want to write that down too?" He had noticed a few of them had started to take notes on what he was saying. They probably thought he was completely insane. Good.

"Answer the question," came the stern response from a human male, who looked quite dangerous, his gaze boring into the Doctor's. The Time Lord wasn't fazed.

"Yes, right, sorry. Nope, not an enemy," the Doctor rocked back and forth on his feet.

"And why should we believe you?"

"I have a trustworthy face." The Doctor grinned widely. "Bit embarrassing, really, lost complete control of my ship and _bam_ , here we are. I'll err... pay for any damages. Actually I can't, but I thought I should say that anyway."

"We will see about that," Stern Man said. "We will discuss what you have said and call you and your companion again tomorrow. You may return to the Halls of Healing. You will be escorted back to the Healing Wing by your healer. She is outside the Council Chambers."

The Doctor nodded, turned walked out. He hadn't thought it was wise to inform the Council that he was a Time Lord. There were people around in this time period that could very well use him to achieve their own ends. Much as he did want to explore, staying here had huge risks that could change the whole history of this galaxy. Though it wasn't set in stone – the future was always in motion and this time period wasn't as fixed as he'd originally thought– he didn't feel it was his place to meddle so much in huge galactic events. These people deserved the freedom of choice. He didn't have the right to interfere and change things, even though he really wanted to… He knew what one possible future could be… but should he attempt to stop it?

As soon as he could, he'd be leaving this place.

* * *

Sidious sat in contemplation, studying the strange presence that he felt. Now more than ever he needed to know who that belonged to. He would have to be careful with the Jedi when he visited the Temple. They could not detect him… The unique individual that he felt in the Force – without knowing what they were – he'd be unprepared in how to deal with them.

If he failed to learn anything then he would have to ask Anakin Skywalker, the young Jedi he was grooming. Skywalker would tell him everything. He always did.

If this new presence proved to be a threat to his plans then they would have to be eliminated or perhaps turned into serving him. He'd have to find its weakness first, and Sidious had always been excellent at exploiting weaknesses.

 _Tomorrow,_ he thought darkly. _Tomorrow._

Rising from his meditative state, Sidious collated his thoughts and returned to the persona that people knew him as. It wouldn't do if he was discovered before the right time came to reveal himself, would it?

 _Soon…._

 **To be continued...**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

 **Donna would certainly have made up names for the Jedi!**

 **The next chapter will be posted next week!**

 **the-writer1988**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N) Sorry for the delay! Had a busy week last week with family so didn't get a chance to update! My apologies!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

The Doctor and Donna had since been reunited, exchanging their stories of what had happened with the Jedi Council's questioning before Donna was finally able to get some sleep. They had been summoned at dawn to discuss their answers with the Jedi Council. The Doctor and Donna had finally been given the names of their hosts by Obi-Wan who had decided it was not fair on his fellow councillors to have silly names attached to them, despite him being amused by it. The Doctor had caught him trying to retain a smile in his room.

They were led back to the Council chamber and told to wait in the centre of the room. Each of the twelve Council members were sitting in their seats – apart from Obi-Wan who was still being observed by the healers – watching them carefully.

"Your answers to our questions were mostly the same… save for a few differences. This leads us to an impasse. We need to question you both to obtain more information before we can decide whether to trust you or to hand you over to the Republic for trial," explained the bald-headed man.

"And what will we be allowed to do if you decide to trust us?" asked the Doctor.

The bald man fixed him with a cold, hard stare. "If we decide the risk of trusting you is acceptable, we will discuss it further with you at that time."

That didn't sound good. The bald man didn't seem to like the Doctor. He could tell. Maybe it was because he had talked too much? Or maybe he was overthinking things but the Doctor hadn't survived the universe for a long time without learning to read people like an open book.

The Doctor just wanted to get on with things. He wanted to get back to his TARDIS. "Look, there are inconsistencies because of who we are. If anyone found out what I could do people could use me to change the whole history of this universe." He had been jokey before hoping to break the ice between them but that had clearly not worked.

The bald man, whose name was Mace Windu, leaned forward. "Your friend mentioned your ship can just appear anywhere in time and space. What does that mean?"

The Doctor resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Time travel, of course."

"... Time travel?" asked a woman who appeared to be wearing a headdress.

Another one of the council laughed boisterously. "That is impossible!" he looked among his fellow council members, encouraging them to laugh. "It is beyond the known laws. How could it possibly work?"

The Doctor sighed, taking a very deep breath, and began. "Well, basically, my ship is a TARDIS - Time and Relative Dimension In Space, that is - through the power of the Eye of Harmony located at the centre of the ship. Using this power the TARDIS jumps into the time vortex which is this brightly coloured wibbly-wobbly thing in space and from there we're able to jump out of the vortex at any point in time, past present or future. Well, sort of, but not really, that's sort of complicated..." He explained at a hundred miles per hour, noticing that some of the Council member's eyes seemed to be crossing slightly. "Its power comes from the Eye of Harmony and which was originally connected to the Eye of Harmony on Gallifrey for its power but now it's charged by void energy from a lovely little bay on Earth called Cardiff. Have you been?" The Doctor stopped at their blank expressions, shook his head, and tried to get back on subject. "Sorry. Anyway, the Eye draws its power from the void using an extrapolator I got from a slitheen from Raxacoricofallapatorius - not to be confused with Raxacoricovarlonpatorius, that's very racist - you know Raxacoricofallapatorius, the place with the baaraddelskelliumfatrexius? Anyway, so I use the raxacoricofallapatorian's expolator in conjunction with the Eye of Harmony to absorb the void's energy, control the power levels to specify a date, time and place in space and that's really basically how the TARDIS works."

The Doctor looked at the Council, sitting there staring at him. He broadened a smile in response as he felt Donna's eyes burn into the back of his brain.

"If it is indeed true that you are able to travel through time and space," another council member began, slightly more seriously at his comprehensive answer and fact he wasn't lying. "How do we know you would not travel back in time to change our past to benefit the dark side?"

"Dark what side?" the Doctor asked seriously.

The entire council seemed to freeze, tensing up with wide eyes.

"Oh, that struck a chord," the Doctor muttered.

"He is not lying," the Togrutan said to their fellows as they all continued to stare at him and Donna in what the Doctor could only deem to be absolute horror.

The one who had laughed at the idea of time travel suddenly leant forward, deadly serious, fixing them with a terrifying stare. "Gallifreyan, human, tell us, do you know of the dark side?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Nope. Donna?"

"Is that like that moon album?" she wondered.

The Doctor looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"That moon album, you know, that band."

"Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd?"

"Yeah!"

"I don't know, I'll ask." The Doctor looked at the council, grinning now. "Is it like that moon album?" he asked, mostly just to wind them up a little.

"They are not lying!" the Togrutan repeated, beginning to become very alarmed.

"Calm down, Shaak Tii!" the Very Important Man implored, before looking at the Doctor and Donna again. "You do not know what the dark side is, but even so, if you are allowed to go you may use your time travelling machine to benefit them!"

The Doctor sighed, hands in his pockets again. "Look, I think we're beginning to go around in circles."

"Yeah," Donna suddenly said. "How do we know you're not the bad guys?"

The Doctor nodded, continuing, "I mean, we only just got here. Go on, prove to us that you have good intentions, right here and right now."

The council looked at each other, the atmosphere somewhat awkward.

"You can't can you?" the Doctor challenged, his eyebrows lowering. Donna recognised that expression. This was the Doctor in Doctor-mode. "So how do you expect us to prove the same? We're just two time travellers who had a bad landing. We're good people who are currently getting asked the same questions again and again and frankly I'm getting a bit fed up with it."

"You dare challenge the Council!?"

"Yes, yes I do dare."

"You will be-"

"Stop!" came a cry from behind them, and the Doctor and Donna turned to find Obi-Wan standing there in the doorway.

"Obi-Wan, you will leave presently!" the Very Important Man demanded.

"If I may speak, I am a member of this Council. And I have just been discharged from the care of Bant Erin. I believe it is my right to sit on this Council?" Obi-Wan walked slowly over to his seat and sat down, looking around at his fellow Council members. "I have observed the Doctor and Miss Noble whilst in the hospital wing – and during my moments of consciousness – and I believe I can bring a different viewpoint to this conversation."

"Go on…" the Very Important Man relented.

Obi-Wan inclined his head in a gesture of respect, his eyes seeking that of the Doctor and Donna. "I do not believe they mean us any harm and I think it would be unwise to anger the Doctor. I sense he is dangerous, but not to us. If they have travelled in time… It is better they leave now before others learn of them. Just imagine what a Sith would do with the Doctor? They'd be able to change the very fabric of our galaxy. Ensure the Jedi never won the Jedi-Sith war a millennia ago. Isn't that a frightening enough thought to let them go?"

"If they betray us…" said Shaak Tii uneasily.

"We probably won't know it," said Obi-Wan. "If our past changes, this future, this present won't exist. We cannot imprison them for something they are unlikely to do. And…" He looked around, finally landing his gaze on the Doctor. "If… if anything goes wrong and we realise it's because we let them go… I'll… I'll take the blame for it. Besides, if you truly thought they were a threat, you would have made sure they were not allowed to wander freely around the hospital wing. You would have issued confinement orders for them both." It was a valid point.

Mace Windu, the very epitome of a Very Important Man, leaned forward, watching the two travellers carefully. "Are you sure you want to take the risk, Obi-Wan?"

The other Jedi swallowed. "Yes."

The Council exchanged looks, thoughts passing between them as the Doctor and Donna looked on. They seemed to come to a decision.

"Decided we have," began Yoda.

They braced themselves for the words they did not want to hear…

"Release you, we shall. Trust you, we will. Go back to your ship, you can."

The Doctor's face broke out into a smile. Oh, he really liked Obi-Wan Kenobi now.

* * *

"They seemed to take your word for it quite quickly," noted the Doctor as Obi-Wan led them back through the corridors of the Temple. They were hundred metres in, filled with statues of old Jedi and numerous tapestries highlighting significant events of their history. It was a grand Temple, a remarkable place to call home. It sorted of reminded the Doctor of the Citadel on Gallifrey, only the Jedi Temple seemed more homely.

Obi-Wan shrugged. "They value my opinion. The Council have watched me and they respect it more when one tells the truth and provides an honest opinion. Besides, it's my fault we are at war in the first place where trust is harder to come by."

The Doctor could tell the younger man felt remorse and sorrow. "How so?"

"I was captured whilst trying to find a Bounty Hunter. He had led me to his employers. I overheard a meeting in which they discussed their intentions – with others – to attack the Republic. They had been building an army. Naturally, I transmitted this information back here… Unfortunately I was captured mid-message. The Republic had to come and rescue me. We hoped to stop a war…" Obi-Wan bit his lip. "But we only escalated it. If I hadn't sent my message and instead left the planet, transmitting it from somewhere else, our galaxy wouldn't be at conflict."

"It's not your fault," said the Doctor. He could sympathise. He had destroyed his own people to end his own war. "They wanted war to start with if they were already building an army. It wouldn't have been stopped."

"Two hundred Jedi came to my rescue… only thirty survived."

The Doctor and Donna exchanged looks, feeling sorry for the man. Donna had told him of Obi-Wan's fit and what Anakin had explained regarding Obi-Wan's recent history. The war was having its effects on everybody.

"To be able to convince them to let us go, they do value you," said the Doctor. "There is something about you that I can't put my finger on…"

Obi-Wan's expression was incredulous. "I'm an unremarkable Jedi."

"To be on the Council at your age, you'd have to be remarkable," countered the Doctor. "I may not know much about this place but I reckon you're one of the youngest Masters to sit on that Council."

Obi-Wan scoffed. "Unlikely. My actions during the war promoted me. I've had more victories than losses and I withstood interrogation when …" he hesitated slightly, "… I was held for a time."

Donna had told the Doctor about Obi-Wan's imprisonment, the little Anakin had shared of it at least. The Doctor wondered what the future held in store for the Jedi. Perhaps they might take a sneaky look once they had left? This universe didn't have set parameters. He couldn't feel anything that was fixed in time. The future was in flux. Every now and again, he seemed to feel certain things, as if Time itself was giving him a glimpse of what possible futures there were. He remembered he had asked Bant if they were on Coruscant or Yavin 4. Those names had popped into his head as if the timelines hadn't settled yet. If something did happen in the future to move the Temple to Yavin 4, it wasn't set in stone… When he was back in the TARDIS, he would have to search for possible fixed points.

He noticed Obi-Wan looking at him with a strange look.

"What?"

"You just…I don't know," frowned Obi-Wan. "Never mind. We are nearly back at your ship though I am baffled at how it can fly since it is just a box."

"It's… complicated," replied the Doctor.

"I heard your speech to the Council about how it works. I don't think any of us understood it. It's only because I stepped in that they let you go. Your babble there would have gotten you imprisoned because you did sound dangerous," the Jedi replied.

"I never thought you had it in you to lie to the Council!" a new voice said.

Obi-Wan glared over his shoulder. "You're getting very close to being issued with chores, Anakin! Besides, why aren't you tutoring Ahsoka? You've neglected her training since you two rescued me."

Anakin grinned as he waltzed up to them. "Why would I do that when I can see inside the Doctor's ship? Besides Ahsoka is perfectly capable of training herself."

"Anakin loves tinkering with ships," explained Obi-Wan, looking at the Doctor.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "You're not tinkering with my TARDIS."

"Can't I just look?" pouted Anakin.

Donna grinned and grabbed the Doctor by the arm. "Oh, go on, let them inside? Please?"

"Donna…"

"You may as well let him. He'll give me a headache otherwise," mentioned Obi-Wan. "And you."

The Doctor sighed. "Fine. But you're not touching anything!"

They rounded the corner, where the TARDIS now stood, away from the devastation it had wrought further away down the corridor. Droids were already hard at work repairing the cracks in the walls and restoring the statues that the TARDIS had inadvertently smashed.

"We tried to move it with the Force but your ship seems to be resistant to us," added Obi-Wan mildly. "Though are we all going to fit in there? It's a bit small."

The Doctor clutched the TARDIS key in his pocket. "Wait and see!" he said mysteriously.

Anakin sniggered. "Obi Wan doesn't like things being out of the ordinary," he told the two time travellers.

"Anakin…" Obi Wan chastised.

Donna giggled, and the Doctor grinned. The two Jedi seemed to act like an old married couple. He pulled out the key from his pocket, inserted it into the lock and turned it, pushing the door open and stepping inside. He poked his head again, looking at the two Jedi before. "Come on in…"

Anakin was the first to enter, his excitement brewing very quickly on his face as his eyes cascaded around the bigger control room. "Oh… this technology would be fantastic to have! Just think what we could do if we did!" He turned to the Doctor. "How does it work?"

Wariness over Anakin's reaction caused the Doctor to rethink what he was going to say. "It's complicated."

"That was rude, Anakin," said Obi-Wan, stepping in himself, looking around at the control room. "Nice," he whistled. "It's smaller on the outside."

"Or bigger on the inside," confirmed the Doctor, watching as Anakin walked around the console.

"How big is this place?" asked the younger Jedi, excitement lighting in his eyes.

"I have no idea," answered the Doctor. "And before you get any ideas, I don't share my technology with anyone. In the wrong hands it could be very dangerous." His voice was hard. He needed Anakin to understand this. He liked the younger man too but, again, there was something about him. The Doctor's time sense was going wild; converging on this young man. His choices would shape the future of the galaxy… That was a terrifying thought.

"You don't seem impressed?" noted Donna, glancing at Obi-Wan.

The older Jedi shrugged. "I'm not up to flying…"

"He hates it, loathes flying," grinned Anakin. "Even though he is great pilot, he just cannot stand the thought of it."

"Yet I still do it."

"Our connection to the Force makes us the better pilots," said Anakin. "We have the ability to anticipate reactions and the Force is our guide."

"The TARDIS doesn't exactly fly," mentioned the Doctor. "Well, she does, but last time I tried the conventional way she burnt out all her circuits."

"And stranded us on a rooftop, skinny-boy,' Donna added.

Anakin chuckled. "Skinny-boy."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "I suspect you want to be on your way?"

"Well…" the Doctor began but Donna spoke up.

"Just give them one ride! Please?" Donna beseeched him. "You did hit Obi-Wan on the head."

The Doctor frowned. That wasn't exactly his fault.

"See, we deserve special treatment!" stated Anakin, folding his arms across his chest.

"Anakin…" hissed Obi-Wan. "It doesn't matter."

The Doctor mused on it. He did owe them after inconveniencing them with his TARDIS. And Obi-Wan had helped them with the Council…

"One trip," he finally relented. "Only because Donna wants me to."

"We do not wish to impose upon your time, Doctor," said Obi-Wan politely.

The Doctor waved him away, already bouncing around the control room, pulling down levers and turning knobs. "Time? Forget time, I'm a Time Lord! So, where do you want to go?"

Anakin's grin widened. He knew exactly where he wanted to go to. "How much information do you need to know before you can plot a course?"

The Doctor looked at Anakin, "Just a place and time to aim for."

"Ok then," Anakin folded his arms across his chest. "Valley of the Spirits, eight standard months ago."

"Specific," the Doctor murmured. He began to input the co-ordinates.

"Anakin…"

"Yes?" the younger Jedi glanced at his former Master.

"Isn't that Tatooine?" Obi-Wan was frowning slightly, and the Doctor stopped what he was doing.

"Yeah, so?" Anakin crossed his arms across his chest.

Obi-Wan turned back to the Doctor. "Can you go back on someone's personal timeline?"

"Never," answered the Doctor. He had a sudden feeling what Anakin had wanted him to do. "There are laws against going back into established events, especially something that has shaped someone to who they are today."

Obi-Wan nodded. Anakin frowned.

"Anakin, it's your mother isn't it?" queried Obi-Wan quietly, approaching the younger Jedi. "You want to save her, don't you?"

Anakin glared. "She shouldn't have died. If I had got there a little bit sooner then she would still be here with me!"

"Anakin…" sighed Obi-Wan. He was about to continue when Anakin cut across him.

"Don't give me the lecture that attachments are bad for you, I don't need to hear it! I am not ashamed of my love for my mother. If you had let me follow my dreams or at least contact her to see if she was alright… none of this would have happened! Don't forget my attachment to you has saved you from death several times, so don't lecture me!" shouted Anakin. He turned towards the Doctor, his face red from anger. "You can't do that then? Take me back? Not even to see my mum one last time? Not even to see how happy she was?"

The Doctor sighed. "No, I can't." He felt genuinely sorry for the young man. "Going back on someone's personal timeline can cause catastrophic consequences. One of my companions tried to prevent her father from being killed and it nearly ripped the universe apart."

"I don't want to change anything!" responded Anakin. "I just want to talk to her one last time when she was happy!"

"You're still crossing into established events and changing your own past," the Doctor explained quietly. "I can't break the laws and rules for one person. I lost my own planet in a war, do you think if I was capable of changing personal timelines and established events that I wouldn't change my own history?"

Anakin sighed. "No… I just… didn't think. I hoped that I may have been able to see my mother again…"

The Doctor had the feeling that there was something more to Anakin's desire to want to go back to that specific time but he wouldn't force the young man to talk about it. Something bad had happened to Anakin at that point. He could sense it. "I'm sorry, Anakin, I can't help you. Losing someone you love is hard… I know that myself."

Obi-Wan reached up and grabbed Anakin's shoulder, squeezing gently. It was the comfort, the Doctor realised, that Anakin needed.

Suddenly the Doctor bounded into action, dashing around the console, pressing an array of buttons, pulling levers and using his right foot to reach a quarter of the way around the console to push down another leaver. "You know what? I've got the perfect place!" He pulled down on the handbrake and the ship started to shake as it flung into the Time Vortex.

 **To be continued...**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

 **I actually found writing the Council scenes incredibly hard because I do find it unlikely that the Council would simply take Obi-Wan's word for it and let the Doctor and Donna go but the story only works if the Doctor and Donna are allowed to leave so this is the way it is going to be... The more intriguing stuff starts happening in the next few chapters!**

 **Chapter 5 will be posted next week!**

the-writer1988


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Anakin was thrown to the floor and Obi-Wan fell on top of him before rolling off. Anakin attempted to stand but a particularly large jolt sent him crashing into Donna's legs. His collision with her caused her fingers to loosen from the console and she dropped too. Anakin smiled guiltily at her. He hadn't meant to knock her to the ground.

"Watch it, long legs!" she shouted as she struggled for a grip on the metal gratings with her nimble fingers.

"Sorry!" grinned Anakin. He liked Donna. She was feisty and knew her own mind. Just like Padmé. She wouldn't sit down and let things pass her by. If there was something she didn't like, Donna would not let it go by her without having a comment or sort about it.

The ship stopped shaking as it landed with a loud clang. Donna scrambled to her feet, dusting herself down, glaring at Anakin, but a slight smile pulled at her lips and she shook her head, hiding her eyes which Anakin was sure were glinting in amusement.

A hand grabbed his, and Obi-Wan helped to haul him to his feet.

"Did it have to be that bumpy?" enquired Obi-Wan, rubbing his knee.

The Doctor shrugged. "Oh yes, be no fun otherwise," he replied, grinning broadly.

Obi-Wan sighed, shaking his head. "Another one who loves flying. I prefer a ride that is smooth."

"Not this ship," the Doctor joked, a sparkle in his eye.

"So, where are we then?" asked Anakin, moving towards the entrance.

"You'll see." The Doctor moved forward, opened the doors and stepped outside. The two Jedi followed with Donna behind them.

Anakin's jaw dropped at the sight before him.

In front of them were the foundations of the Jedi Temple. It was just being built, stone being laid onto each other, each layer taking years to build. They were on Coruscant but many years before Anakin's own time. Coruscant itself was very different. Over the millennia since the construction of the Jedi Temple, the surface of Coruscant had gradually been taken away as builders sought to create a world-wide city. Coruscant's buildings in Anakin's time now reached from close to the planet's core to the highest point of the atmosphere the world offered. The city below them in this time was still sprawling but less technologically advanced. Anakin could still see the natural land of Coruscant though most of it was gone, covered by industrial works as the planet began its ascent to becoming the built up city that would be its legacy in years to come. Parts of the nature that had lived on the planet was still there living within its natural habitat. Within another century even that would be gone.

"Wow," he breathed.

The Doctor smiled. "This is Coruscant, over a millennia in the past… during the time the Jedi Temple was being constructed."

Anakin grinned. "You've picked the right place to come back to, though I'm not sure why you didn't just offer to do this with the Council. It would have saved you the trouble of having to go through a hearing."

"I'm not sure the Council would have taken the offer to go inside a strange blue box with someone they do not trust," pointed out Obi-Wan, scowling beneath his beard. "They may have given the Doctor permission to leave but that does not mean they would willingly step inside his ship for proof that the Doctor may not have given them in the first place."

"You're part of the Council. You are still here," cheeked Anakin. He did love teasing his old Master, even if there were consequences to it: usually getting more chores which took him away from other activities he would rather pursue… like Padmé for instance.

Obi-Wan sighed. "That's irrelevant. I may be a part of the Council but I am not _the Council_. I do not speak for them."

"But you are a voice of them." Anakin loved being pedantic when it came to his Master. "You cannot deny that, no matter how much you try."

Obi-Wan shook his head, shrugging his shoulders at the Doctor. "This is what I have had to deal with every day for the last ten years. Can you just accidently leave him here?"

"Hey," Anakin folded his arms across his chest but not feeling any actual offense at the playful remark.

The Doctor flashed a grinned. "I could, but that might destroy time and space."

"The usual excuse," Donna said loudly, rolling her eyes. "The other day he wouldn't let me have the last biscuit cos it'd destroy time and space if he didn't eat it."

Obi-Wan smiled at that. "Surely that is an abuse of your privilege as a Lord of Time?" he directed towards the Doctor.

"Lords of Time still have to eat," the Doctor pointed out.

"I know he looks skinny but geez," Donna said seriously, looking pointedly at him. "I dunno where it all goes. I think he must have pouches in his cheeks like hamsters."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, looking to Obi-Wan again. "She tells _everyone_ that."

Obi-Wan rubbed his chin. Anakin noticed one eyebrow was up in concentration. "It seems you two have an interesting… relationship."

"We're not a couple!" shouted Donna suddenly.

Obi-Wan took an involuntary step back. "I didn't mean it that way. Your friendship relationship…"

She nodded abruptly. "Good. He is _so_ not my type."

Anakin sniggered, placing one hand over his mouth attempting to hide his giggles. "You two are definitely not right for one another."

"Thank you!" cried Donna ecstatically.

"Sorry to interrupt, but do you two want to have a look around before I take you back to your own time?" asked the Doctor. "As long as you don't meddle."

Anakin glanced at Obi-Wan. "Well?"

The older Jedi frowned. "Should we? I'm not sure. We've seen enough. This is the Coruscant we live on and that right there, right in front of us, being built at this point in time, is our home." He looked at Anakin. "Do we really need to look around a place we already know? Even if it is thousands of years in the past? Not much has really changed apart from how large the city has grown in that time."

Anakin folded his arms across his chest. "That is true… Coruscant hasn't really changed much in years. The buildings and the architect has changed but it is still the same world. No, I think you're right. Looking around will be pointless. I wouldn't want to risk inadvertently changing something that affects the future."

"That won't happen," stated the Doctor. "This era is safe. If you want to look around, you can. Unless you plan on preventing the Jedi Temple from ever being built, of course."

"I think if I tried to meddle with that, Obi-Wan would kill me for sure," laughed Anakin.

"Not kill you, maybe make sure you never make the title of Jedi Master," retorted Obi-Wan.

Anakin groaned. "I'd like to be a Jedi Master." He shook his head. He did want to look around but they weren't in a place that made him want to see the sights. He knew Coruscant. And the planet was still a sprawling city though not as high as it was in his own time. "No, I think we'll both pass."

The Doctor nodded and opened the doors to his blue box again. "Come on, I'll take you both back."

Anakin began to walk towards the doors. "How long are you going to be around for?"

The Doctor shrugged. "We may stay a few days, just to have a look around. But we'll stay outside the Temple. I've never been to this part of the universe before; don't know what's here. Should be fun. Originally I was going to leave but it would be nice to explore…"

"And get us in trouble," muttered Donna, out of the corner of her mouth. "This one seems to attract trouble. Everywhere we go, someone's always trying to kill him or take over the world."

Anakin sniggered. "You won't find that here."

The Doctor groaned. "Everyone says that."

"You seem to be forgetting about the current war we are involved in, Anakin?" pointed out Obi-Wan.

Anakin turned and glanced at his Master. "That won't affect the Doctor and Donna. The Separatists have no qualms with them. It's the Republic and the Jedi Order they have problems with."

Donna leaned in. "The Doctor manages to get himself into situations that have nothing to do with him in the first place. Like I said: he's a magnet."

"I would be surprised if your friend managed to get himself in trouble in our time," replied Anakin.

"I hate to be pedantic," interrupted Obi-Wan, looking at the Doctor, "but you've already got yourself involved and in trouble. You damaged the Temple and gave me concussion. You're just lucky you landed in the right place rather than a place where they would take your head for it."

Anakin sighed, rolling his eyes in frustration. "Ok, fine. He has found trouble in our time but I doubt he will find any more."

As Anakin walked back into the TARDIS, Donna leaned in close, whispering his ear.

"Give it two hours."

Anakin couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

This was a surprise.

Sidious couldn't locate Skywalker in the Force. It was as if he had vanished from the plane entirely. Kenobi's foul presence had disappeared too, along with the strange presence he had been unable to learn anything about. It had been two days since he had first sensed that strange presence but his efforts to uncover the source of it had been fruitless.

His meeting at the Jedi Temple had been postponed due to an incident that had involved one of the Jedi Masters. Sidious had yet to learn which Master that involved, though it had to be something to do with Kenobi and this stranger. The fact Skywalker was missing in the Force seemed to be evidence of his own assumptions.

Reaching into the dark folds of the Force, Sidious felt Skywalker suddenly pop back. He could now feel the young Jedi. Kenobi was also back, as well as the stranger. They seemed quite close. Turning towards the security cameras, Sidious scrolled through the many images covering the Senate building.

His eyes searched for the anomaly that had to be there…

And then he spotted it.

Skywalker was emerging from a blue box which had the words 'POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX' written on each of its four sides. Following the young Jedi was Kenobi and then a young woman with red hair, followed by a man with brown hair, wearing a long coat.

He was the source of the strange presence Sidious was sensing.

He smiled.

This footage would be enough for him to get the answers he wanted from Skywalker. He needed to know who that man was and put an end to him permanently.

This man was clearly a threat to Sidious' plans of galaxy-wide domination; the dark side of the Force was sending him vibes. The man would need to be dealt with or Sidious' plans risked falling apart.

And he couldn't let that happen.

 **To be continued...**

 **And now we build up towards Sidious taking action...**

 **The next chapter will be posted next week!**

 **Until then,**

 **the-writer1988**


	7. Chapter 6

**Here is the next chapter...**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

As Obi-Wan stepped outside the TARDIS, he stopped and looked around. He glanced over his shoulder at the Doctor who was just inside the doors of his ship. "This isn't the Jedi Temple."

"Erm, no," the Doctor scratched the back of his neck. "The TARDIS doesn't always land in the right place. But it is the correct year."

Obi-Wan frowned. "Hmm. Technically I'm not really allowed to leave the Jedi Temple, not while I'm still in the recovery stages of the injuries you gave me." He folded his arms across his chest. "But I'll let you off the hook. I suppose you'd like a look around?"

"It looks kind of posh," said Donna, looking up at the tall, circular building in front of her. "What is that place?"

"That's the Senate," explained Anakin, stepping out of the TARDIS. "It's where the Chancellor of the Republic spends most of his time and the Senators decide on what laws should be passed. Oh, and they decide what needs to be done with the war as well… It's a really lovely place. I can show you around if you like? I need to see someone in the Senate anyway."

Obi-Wan frowned. "Anakin…"

"I'm not doing anything wrong, Master. Besides we are both off duty!"

"You shouldn't be spending so much time off with Senator –"

Anakin cut him off rather rudely. "I'm not going to see Padmé - err, I mean Senator Amidala today."

Obi-Wan saw his young apprentice blush. He was turning a blind eye to Anakin's relationship with Padmé Amidala but he hoped that his young friend would trust him with the truth one day. It was difficult to miss the love the two had for one another. "Who are you going to see then?" Though he already knew, he felt it was best to check. A Master should always know where his apprentice was.

"The Chancellor. He sent me a message earlier. He wanted to see me," answered Anakin shrugging.

"Just be careful what you say to him," advised Obi-Wan. He didn't trust politicians and Anakin did have a mouth on him: a mouth that didn't know when to stop talking. The Jedi knew there was a leak somewhere in the Chancellor's inner circle. The Sith always seemed to be anticipating what the Republic was going to do. If only they could trace the source they may be able to end this war.

Anakin frowned, his face darkening. "I'm always careful."

Obi-Wan nodded. He rubbed his head. He still felt weak. "I'll head back to the Temple. I don't want the Council announcing I'm missing."

Donna stepped forward. "Do you want some help?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "No. I'll be fine. There's a shuttle that goes directly from the Senate to the Temple. I'll use that and slip into the side door. Besides, why would you want to escort me back when you can see the wonders of the Senate courtesy of this Knight here? Besides, a bit of fresh air might do me some good anyway. And I know when to call for help."

"Ok," relented Anakin. "Are you certain?"

"My answer isn't changing," replied Obi-Wan.

Anakin accepted this with a curt nod. "Be careful. I don't want to nurse you back to health for a third time."

Obi-Wan chuckled. "Believe me, I hope to avoid a third time."

Anakin laughed over his shoulder. "You won't!"

Obi-Wan shook his head, watching as Anakin started to lead the Doctor and Donna away. His younger friend just had to get the last word in. For once, Obi-Wan would allow him to have that small victory.

* * *

Anakin had taken them on a tour of the Senate which the Doctor had found fascinating. They had learned the Senate had a variety of names, including Senate Tower, Convocation Centre and Senate Rotunda, but the name that it mostly went by was Senate. They had met one Senator who had been returning to her offices: this turned out to be the Senator Obi-Wan had spoken of before he had left their company.

Based on the two's interactions, Donna had leaned into the Doctor and promptly whispered to him: "Those two are so married." If it was true, Anakin was taking a risk. Their brief time in the Temple had enabled them to learn a lot about the Jedi Order: one was that Jedi were not allowed to marry or have any attachments of any kind – essentially they lived a life of celibacy. So if Anakin and this Senator – Padmé Amidala – were indeed married, the young Knight was breaking the Jedi Order's law.

They now stood in the Chancellor of the Republic's office. The walls were decorated red and directly behind the Chancellor's chair was a wide transparisteel window, looking directly out onto the city below. There were bronze statues situated in the corners of the office. To reach the Chancellor's office they had to enter a formal reception area, where guards stood every hour of the day in front of the double doors into the office. To enter the office they had to undergo security checks – Anakin informed them everyone had to go through this, even family members of the Chancellor, though he admitted he did not know of any family the Chancellor had.

There was a small set of stairs leading up to the Chancellor's desk. The Doctor got the distinct impression the Chancellor liked looking down on people from his desk, though judging by the building, he assumed the office had been made that way when constructed. It was the implication that bothered him. Anakin explained the Chancellor's office was one of the safest buildings on Coruscant. It was constantly shielded and everything in the room was monitored. There was another door to the right of them that led off into another room which the visitors assumed was the Chancellor's private quarters.

The Chancellor was currently praising Anakin and asking why the young man hadn't been promoted to the Jedi Council yet. Anakin responses showed his own irritation at Obi-Wan's lack of desire to promote him.

The Doctor hadn't realised that Anakin wanted to be a Master that badly. It seemed he had only been a Jedi Knight for a few years so was still quite a few off Mastery. What made Anakin feel so sure that he should be promoted now?

"He's jealous of you," said the Chancellor kindly. "He knows that if he puts you forward for Masterhood, you will outshine him in every way – you do now anyway, anyone can see it, my boy."

The Doctor frowned. Obi-Wan Kenobi did not come across as someone who would hold someone back if he didn't need to.

Evidently Donna had had the same thought too as she leaned into the Doctor. "That guy's filling Anakin's head with nonsense."

The Doctor slowly turned his head to his companion. "I know." He looked back to Anakin to find him walking towards them now.

"….you introduce me to your friends?" the Chancellor asked.

The Doctor and Donna walked forward.

"Doctor, Donna, this is my friend, Chancellor Palpatine of the Galactic Republic."

Before the Doctor could stop her, Donna opened her mouth and said, quite angrily: "Why are you fillin' Anakin's head with lies?"

Anakin's face immediately coloured and there seemed to be a strange shift in his posture.

"My opinion is just as valid as Master Kenobi's is," replied the Chancellor coolly.

"Not when you are trying to drive a wedge between them!" continued Donna, glaring at the man.

The Doctor quickly stepped in front of her, pushing her back. He needed to defuse the situation and fast. Anakin did not look happy at all and his hands were clenched into fists. "Excuse my friend, she's from… Barcelona," he said quickly, pulling a smile. "Anakin, what Donna _meant_ to say was why does the opinion of the Chancellor outrank the man that raised you? It's not like the Chancellor knows the ins and outs of the Jedi order, is it?"

"Doctor! That man is -!"

"Donna, shut up!" hissed the Doctor.

"Don't you tell me to shut up, Time Boy!" Donna hissed back, digging an elbow in his ribs.

"As Chancellor of the Republic, I am more aware of the Jedi Order than you. Anakin has trained long enough and deserves the rank of Master. He has served the Republic exemplary since he became a Knight. If anyone deserves to be a member of the Jedi Council, it is Anakin," explained the Chancellor, subtle anger quite clear in his tone.

"Funny how the Council disagrees with you, isn't it?" replied Donna, stepping past the Doctor. "You promote someone when they're ready, not because the other person believes they are ready! And it doesn't help that you are filling Anakin's head with lies! Next you will be saying that the Council is deliberately holding him back!"

The Doctor put his head in his right hand. There was no stopping Donna.

Anakin frowned at Donna's words. "I don't believe they are deliberately holding me back. I just know I'm ready to join them as a Master. But the Council won't let me."

Donna rolled her eyes. "Listen, that means the Council still thinks you need more experience. How long you been training for? How long have you been a Knight?"

"Ten years. And nearly two years as a Knight."

"Which is more than enough time for one to become a Jedi Knight in," interrupted the Chancellor, who had now moved out from behind his desk. He seemed to be clutching something underneath one of his sleeves.

Donna folded her arms across her chest. "Ten years? That's all? You've only been a Knight for two years? I saw the little kids who looked about five training. No way were you training at that age if you trained only for ten years, unless you've had one hell of a growth spurt!"

"Anakin is special," said the Chancellor. "He is the Chosen One."

Donna rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Oh yeah, so the high and mighty 'Chosen One' should have less training and experience than any other Jedi?"

"Yes."

"No."

Two different answers.

The first came from the Chancellor, and the second from Anakin.

Anakin glanced back at his friend. "Do you really believe that, Chancellor?" The anger around him seemed to be evaporating.

The Doctor, who had given up trying to silence his companion finally looked up, sensing a change in the wind. Perhaps Donna's straightforwardness was a blessing?

The Chancellor seemed to be on the back foot. "You are important to the Jedi and to the Republic, Anakin. It is imperative we get you to be in a position of authority in the Order as soon as possible. In this war, people need hope. And they will look to you to save them."

Oh dear, that man was crafty. He was appealing to Anakin's desires.

"It doesn't matter! Even if he _is_ this 'Chosen One' then wouldn't he need lots of extra training and experience to cope with all his 'Chosen One' things?" continued Donna, somewhat facetiously. "Does being a 'Chosen One' mean you get to break all the training rules, get special treatment and get married?"

"What?" Anakin looked shocked. "I'm not married!"

Donna looked at him. "Of _course_ you are, I saw the way you and that Senator were looking at each other. Seen it all the time on Corrie!"

The Doctor sighed. It was time he interrupted. He could still salvage this conversation. "Donna can be rather outspoken, Chancellor. I'm sure you respect the right to everyone to have an opinion."

The Chancellor stayed silent for a moment. "Of course. Diplomacy is important to me in every way. I would not be in this job if I did not believe that."

For some reason the Doctor felt he was lying but chose not to comment. "I'm sure you two have got lots to talk about. We'll be on our way."

"Of course…. Doctor… and… was it Miss Donna?" asked the Chancellor cordially.

"It is," Donna grated out.

"It was good to meet you, Chancellor," smiled the Doctor and then swiftly turned and left the office, dragging Donna away with him.

* * *

"Your friends seem to be rather… different…" commented the Chancellor, once the two had left them alone.

Anakin grimaced. "I knew Donna was fiery but to be like that towards you?" He rubbed the back of his head. "You've always been there for me, ever since I came here. You've looked out for me, helped me along. I know I'm ready to be a Jedi Master… I just wish they would give me a chance."

"One day the Jedi Council will realise their mistake in not promoting you sooner. Your potential is being wasted. They fear your power Anakin, that is why they are holding you back. Even Master Kenobi knows this."

Anakin frowned. "I don't think Obi-Wan is like that…"

"He was chosen to be part of the Council for a reason," explained the Chancellor gently, coming to stand beside Anakin. "Only those Jedi that agree with the Council's views on you are submitted to their ranks. With Obi-Wan on their side, they control your future."

Anakin took a step back. He believed the Chancellor on a lot of things but this seemed as if it was a personal attack. "They won't keep me a Knight forever, not if I successfully train Ahsoka."

"You have already shown you are doing a fine job with your apprentice. Yet they refuse to promote you to the rank you deserve. The skills you have demonstrated in this war clearly show you are ready to be a leader of the Jedi Order," said the Chancellor. "Did you know your Master wasn't ready to be a Knight, yet because he defeated a Sith, he become a Knight automatically? Rules were changed for him, why not for you?"

"Obi-Wan proved himself," answered Anakin. He knew the story of his Master's path to Knighthood. He had nearly been sent away from the Temple because he hadn't been chosen by a Master, yet fate had delivered him to Qui-Gon Jinn. Obi-Wan had still been a Padawan at the age of twenty-five and he had been in the Jedi Order since he was a year old. He had faced many more years of being an apprentice according to Temple rumours Anakin had once heard, yet his defeat of a Sith had got him promoted years before he would have been if he had carried on underneath the tutelage of Qui-Gon.

Anakin swallowed, trying to form a response to his friend's question. "Master Obi-Wan had been training from a young age… I have had less time than him… Even if he had been held back if events hadn't meant he was promoted, I think he would still be an exceptional Jedi. Sometimes the most ordinary of us are exceptional. Rules were not changed for him. The Council considered facing a Sith and dealing with the murder of your teacher as a trial that Obi-Wan passed. And I agree with them. Fighting in the Clone Wars may be a trial for all of us but they are not proper tests of our ability to be Jedi. Padawans as young as thirteen are fighting in this war, showing exceptional skills, shouldn't they be promoted too? They have made accomplishments too. Considerations should be made for everyone, not just for one person."

The Chancellor nodded slowly. "Your logic is sound, Anakin. However, I wish the Council would recognise you. They need to let you out from under their wing and let you join them."

Anakin shook his head. "I think they will. What did you want to see me for anyway?"

"I just wanted to know how the situation at the Temple was going. I understand Master Kenobi was injured?"

Anakin chuckled. "He got hit by a flying blue box which can travel in time." Then his eyes widened. "Chancellor, please do not repeat what I just said."

"I have no idea what you even said," smiled the Chancellor. "You can trust me, can't you, Anakin? Between you and me… The Doctor and Donna are the pilots of this …. box?"

Anakin nodded. "Yeah. It's a fascinating ship. I wish I could show it to you but Donna doesn't seem to like you. She'd probably stop you from entering."

"I would rather not face the wrath of that redhead," answered the Chancellor.

"You wouldn't," smiled Anakin. "But they're very remarkable people. I get the feeling they go from place to place, helping those that need it and stopping evil plots."

"Always a worthy cause," intoned Palpatine. He slowly began to walk back to his desk. "And, Anakin, your secret about Senator Amidala is safe with me…. If it is indeed true. I have kept the secret of what you did to the Sand People."

Anakin blinked and then shrugged. "You don't need to keep that secret since it isn't true."

"Very well, Anakin." The Chancellor clasped his hands together. "It was good to see you again my boy."

"You too, Chancellor," replied Anakin, inclining his head in a gesture of respect, a few strands of hair fell into his eyes. "I'll come again soon."

"Please do. I always enjoy our conversations," added the Chancellor as Anakin departed the office.

* * *

Sidious sat back in his chair, watching the young Jedi's retreating back. He hadn't got all the information he had wanted but he had gained enough. Time travel was certainly something he could use, in fact if he could get his hands on that blue box, the past would be his to control. But how could he do it?

And then a grin spread across his face.

He knew _exactly_ what to do.

 **To be continued...**

 **And Sidious' big plan will occur in the next chapter...**

 **The next chapter will be posted next week!**

 **Until then,**

 **the-writer1988**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hello, here is the net chapter...**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Exiting the Senate, the Doctor and Donna stopped beside the TARDIS. There was now a market set up just a few hundred feet from where they had landed, but neither took much notice of the hustle and bustle happening a few feet away from them as the Doctor proceeded to talk to his companion. "That wasn't smart, Donna," the Doctor grated, fighting to keep his voice low. He didn't want to attract unwanted attention.

"That man is up to something! If that Chancellor Palpapott –"

"Palpatine," the Doctor corrected.

Donna rolled her eyes. She wasn't in the mood to be corrected. "If Palpapott was a real friend he wouldn't be filling Anakin's head with lies. Anakin's got a superiority complex 'cause of him!"

"That's not our problem!" hissed the Doctor. "We can't interfere in this, Donna, whatever's going to happen must happen!"

"Because this is Pompeii, right?" asked Donna slightly facetiously, folding her arms across her chest.

The Doctor faltered. He didn't feel like a future was set in stone yet but he knew it all rested on Anakin's shoulders. Time seemed to converge around him, as if he was the pivotal decision maker that would make or break this particular universe.

"It isn't Pompeii, is it?" prompted Donna, fixing him with a glare.

The Doctor sighed. "No, it's not fixed. But Anakin is pivotal. I know that much."

"Then shouldn't we make sure he makes the right choice?" she probed. "Why should the bad guys win?"

"Donna, we can't change Anakin's mind. He will trust Palpatine despite what we say. He's had years to work on him."

"Obi-Wan then!" pointed out Donna.

"This isn't-"

"Oh for God's sake!" Donna huffed, before immediately turning and storming off through the market, leaving the Doctor standing alone.

"Donna!" he shouted, but she wasn't listening, and seconds later he had lost her in the crowd. "Donna!"

But she was gone.

* * *

Donna stormed through the market, still furious from her conversation with the Doctor. She wasn't intending to go shopping in the mood she was in, but a particular stall caught her eye – numerous small objects glistening in the sun. She moved forward, peering over the shoulder of an apparent green humanoid fly. On the stall was a motley collection of shiny objects, from necklaces, to piercings to bracelets.

She unintentionally caught the eye of the stall holder – a human. He was blond, blue-eyed and had a beautiful smile.

"Hey," he said. "Can I help?"

Donna immediately swooned, picked up the nearest object without even looking and held it up. "Yeah, um, how much is this?"

"Sixty credits," the man responded, persisting with his smile. "But I'll make it fifty credits for you."

Donna swooned again, silently wishing she'd put a little more concealer on. "Great," was all she managed to say, instinctively digging a hand into her pocket to retrieve some change, and finding nothing. It then dawned on her that the Doctor usually handled any form of payment with his psychic paper. She slowly looked up at the stall holder, smiled widely, and then put the necklace back.

"Nah," she concluded. "Thanks, mate, but I can get cheaper than that in Camden."

The stall holder frowned. "Is that near Agamar?"

"Um, yeah," Donna responded, blasé. "First on the right near the Tesco's. But thanks!" She quickly turned away from the stall and melting into the crowd. She cast her eyes around the various stalls, not really finding anything that interesting. Without money she would be unable to buy anything.

Suddenly someone walked right into her and she fell to the ground with a comical crash. "Oi, watch it, mate!" she belted out, thoroughly annoyed.

A tall man with broad shoulders and muddy brown eyes bent down, holding out his hand. "Sorry, miss!" he said cheerfully. "Lemme help you up there!"

Donna took his hand, grumbling beneath her breath, but as she rose to her feet she felt something dig into her back. The man's helpful smile quickly turned into an ominous smile. She instinctively tried to back away but was caught by a pair of heavy hands.

"Scream and we shoot you." The object in the hands of the man who had stepped up behind her immediately became clear. "Come with us peacefully and you will not be harmed."

Donna quickly looked up through the crowd, intentionally muting herself but wide-eyed and desperate to find the Doctor. She couldn't see him through the throng of the crowd. She then tried to find someone, anyone to help, but absolutely no one seemed to be looking at her… except the attractive stall holder. She tried to communicate her distress to him, but slowly and with a sense of utter horror she realised that he knew exactly what was going on.

His beautiful smile persisted as she was dragged away.

* * *

The Doctor hadn't followed Donna straight away. He knew when she needed space. Rushing off after her wasn't going to make her come back any faster. Leaning back against the TARDIS, he crossed his arms over his chest, settling himself into wait for her return.

He cast his eyes around the square, his vision taking in the market that Donna had stormed off into. Off to side he saw an air speeder moving slowly closer to the market and then stopping by one of the outlying stalls. Two burly men appeared and threw someone into the back of the speeder. The Doctor couldn't see who that person was but a bad feeling immediately ruptured in his stomach.

Rushing forward the Doctor sped towards the men and the speeder but he was too late as the driver accelerated away into the speeder lanes high above the market. As his eyes followed the speeder he heard a distinct voice.

"DOCTOR!"

His hearts constricted. "Donna!"

His eyes lost the speeder in the sea of traffic above. Clenching his fists, the Doctor ran into the market, sonic screwdriver in hand, the device set to retrace Donna's footsteps. Someone must have seen something.

Surely…

He paced quickly, following the Sonic's incessant beeping, leading him to a row of stalls which were so congested with people that he realised that even if Donna's kidnapping had been done in public, no one would have raised an eyebrow. He wasn't going to give up. He continued down his path, eventually stopping where Donna's footsteps were surrounded by a new signature which the Doctor chose to identify as her kidnappers. It was after that, that the three sets moved together, suggesting Donna had been forced to leave with them.

He knew his companion well enough that if she'd had a choice, she would have refused and tried to escape. Only a threat would stop Donna from trying to escape.

"You won't find her."

The voice startled the Doctor. Keeping his cool, the Doctor turned his attention to a stall owner, who was leaning back against his stall. The man was blond and blue-eyed. The Doctor glared at the man. "Tell me," he ordered. "Where is she?!"

The man chuckled. "She's on her way to my Master. You can only save her if you follow these exact instructions." He held out a data-pad for the Doctor to read. He took it grudgingly, running his eyes over the text.

Come to me or she dies.

The Doctor looked up at the man, thrusting the data-pad back to him. "Where?" he demanded.

The man chuckled. "You obviously tracked her here with that thing in your hand. I'm not gonna help you. I'm just the delivery boy. Getting well paid for my services," smirked the man.

The Doctor growled. He didn't have time for this. Twisting swiftly on his feet, his brown coat billowing out behind him, the Doctor walked quickly away, intent on finding Donna before it was too late.

* * *

Donna was terrified. She lay on the dirty floor of a dirty warehouse where she had been brought by the men that had kidnapped her. She had no idea where she was, and had no way of contacting the Doctor. She had left her mobile phone on the TARDIS. Even if she had been able to call the Doctor, she wouldn't have been able to as her hands were tied securely behind her back. Her body shook and she tried to suppress a small whimper. Her vision was still slightly blurry. Resting her cheek on the dirty metallic flooring, Donna shivered with pain.

She hadn't felt pain like this before. The lightning that had engulfed her body had barely lasted ten seconds but it had had her screaming in agony. She had wanted it to end the moment it had started. Her torturer had offered no explanation for why she had been taken or why he was subjecting her to this pain, but she had a good idea who it was. Though his voice sounded different, it wasn't unrecognisable.

She moaned. She was scared.

Her eyes focused on the figure standing away from her, his back facing her.

"You friend will come for you," the man chuckled. He didn't turn to address her.

Donna took in deep breaths. She understood the consequences of speaking out. She had tried and had been 'rewarded' with a bout of lightning. This man wanted the Doctor. She was the bait.

And the Doctor would come for her. Donna knew that.

No matter how much she wanted to be rescued from this man, she also knew that the Doctor wouldn't be walking away from here.

Her fears mounted when she heard the unmistakable noise of the TARDIS materialising behind her.

* * *

Bounding out of the TARDIS, the Doctor stopped, skidding to a halt when he saw Donna lying on the floor, hands tied behind her back with thick rope and a man in a black cloak standing behind her, watching him with glowing orange eyes. The Doctor's eyes flickered to the man, stepping forward only to abruptly step back when lightning coursed forward, striking Donna. She screamed.

"Stop it!" the Doctor cried immediately, furious. "Leave her alone!"

The man didn't.

The Doctor stepped back again, putting distance between him and Donna. The torture immediately stopped and Donna curled up, gasping.

"Donna, stay with me," the Doctor said quickly, whipping out his sonic from his pocket. It would be useless in this situation but he could at least attempt to look like he had a plan.

"Not another step." The pale white hands of the hooded man remained pointing at Donna's visibly shaking form.

The Doctor understood the threat. Unless he did what the man wanted, Donna would suffer. He quickly checked her – she was looking up again now. Straight at him with a look he'd seen so many times before. Complete and utter trust to save her.

"Well come on," the Doctor prompted. "I haven't got all day. What do you want?

"I understand you can travel in time," the hooded man said. "Perhaps you can do a favour for me? A small trip?" The man's fingers twitched, indicating what the price would be if the Doctor failed to comply.

The Doctor quickly assessed the situation. The man had him in a corner (figuratively, not literally, of course). Donna was strong but this was pure torture. Pure evil. This man was the Sith the Jedi were trying to find. If only he had brought Anakin or Obi-Wan with him…

It was too late to think what he could have done. He just had to act on the here and now. Taking this man into the TARDIS and going where he wanted to go wouldn't be good. The Doctor might be able to stop him if he had a chance to. He knew continuing to stand here and not doing anything was risking Donna's life. The man's fingers twitched again.

The Doctor let out a deep breath. There wasn't much else he could do. Stepping back, he opened the door to the TARDIS.

What he could see of the man's face curled up into a wicked smile. "Good. I see you are not without sense of right."

The Doctor snorted. "You gave me no choice."

The man grinned evilly, showing off dirty, yellow teeth.

"But you won't win," the Doctor stated. "Whatever you are after… Chancellor." He knew it was him. Same height, a slightly different voice. He might have fooled the Jedi Order but it was no coincidence that he was the only one who knew of their existence outside of the Jedi Council. _Anakin must have mentioned I had a ship that could travel in time and now…_

"Oh… Oh… I really think I will," chuckled the Chancellor before turning his attention to Donna. "Get up girl."

Donna tried to move but she was trembling too much, despite how much she was obviously trying to suppress it. The Doctor moved forward, intending to help her but suddenly lightning engulfed him and pain was wracking his body. He screamed, his limbs flaying in every direction. His knees buckled and he crashed to the floor, trying to curl into himself as he screamed.

Abruptly the pain stopped and the Doctor gasped. Looking up, he saw Donna had managed to get to her feet, looking completely white.

"Move," the man instructed.

"All right, keep your hair on," Donna blurted out, trying to make out to the Chancellor that wasn't as terrified as she felt. She walked slowly to the TARDIS, her shoulders heaving as she fought to control the constant shaking. The man motioned for the Doctor to follow her. He did so and the man swiftly walked in behind them.

The Chancellor moved towards Donna, his intention clear. He seemed to be unfazed by the bigger in the inside ship.

The Doctor thought quickly for a plan, but despite several grand plans forming inside his hand, none of them were viable without a bit more of an advantage. "Where do you want to go?"

The man smirked. "The past. Precisely thirty-six years ago. To a planet called Kamino."

The Doctor felt a tightening in his stomach. This was not good. He moved to the computer screen and began to type in the search he needed to find out where this planet Kamino was. The co-ordinates came up quickly. He couldn't not do this. Their captor would know so the Doctor's only choice was to do as the man wanted until they could find a way to extract themselves from this situation. Donna's life was at stake. He didn't want her to hurt more.

"Doctor, do-!" Donna's words ended in high-pitched screech, her body buckling under the onslaught of lightning radiating from the man's fingertips.

"STOP IT!" the Doctor yelled, rushing around the TARDIS console, inputting the co-ordinates and sending the TARDIS into the Time Vortex. The ensuing bouncy nature of the TARDIS travel, threw the Chancellor's aim off and the lightning ratcheted around the TARDIS control room before the man regained control of his power and stopped the deadly force.

The TARDIS landed with a thunk and the Doctor reluctantly walked to the doors. "We're here."

The hooded man enticed Donna to her feet prodding her forward. "You will come with me to ensure his cooperation."

Donna gritted her teeth angrily, but the Doctor could see the fear in her eyes. She did not want to be left alone with her captor.

"We'll be fine, Donna," he reassured her, even though he knew that was false. She had to move.

The man removed the hood of his cloak, revealing the face of the Chancellor of the Republic but instead of the kind demeanour of his features when they had meet him in his office, his Sith appearance was far more menacing. His skin was more waxing and his eyes glowed yellow. His hands were more curled. And then before their eyes he morphed to his kindly personage. His eyes turned blue and his skin smoothed out, colour injecting into his skin, and his fingers uncurled, turning him into the friendly person they had originally met.

"The Force hides my true identity from the Jedi. They will only know the truth before it is too late," the Chancellor smiled evilly.

The Doctor glared. "No matter what you change in this timeline, there will always be those who stand against you."

The man chuckled. "Maybe so but unfortunately for you and your mouthy friend, neither of you will be around to see it."

That only confirmed to the Doctor that he was running out of time. He had to find a way to stop this right now but while Donna's life was on the line, he could not do a thing. If he could go back to the present time and collect Anakin and Obi-Wan he would but the Chancellor would surely know if he attempted that and he could not risk Donna being killed for his attempt to fix the wrongs that were surely about to happen.

As if he could read the Doctor's thoughts, the Sith bared his teeth. "I will not let you ruin my moment of triumph by your interference, Doctor. Your friend will die. I can promise you it will not be a quick end to her annoying existence."

The Sith's fingers clenched and the Doctor slammed against one of the struts, pinned against it by an invisible force. The Doctor watched, struggling against the bonds, as the Chancellor escorted Donna outside. When they had gone, the Doctor grunted and kicked the bottom of the strut with the heel of his right foot in pure frustration.

* * *

Donna felt terrified. She had been hoping someone would be able to free her from this mad-man's grip but their hosts didn't seem inclined to help, choosing to put business over saving someone. The Chancellor was a very good actor, claiming that she had trouble mingling in public, therefore her hands had to be bound for everyone's safety. The Chancellor had put it very persuasively but she had a feeling the aliens, with their long, thin necks and large black eyes simply did not care about her. They would have swallowed anything the man had told them about her.

The only good thing to come out of her trip was she learned what the Chancellor was trying to change. Being in the Jedi Temple, Donna had learnt a lot about the current war engulfing the galaxy. The army the Jedi were in charge of were clone troopers. She had learned that they had been commissioned secretly without the Republic's knowledge. Clearly the Chancellor had put this in motion originally but now he was intending on unleashing his army quicker than before.

Whilst on the planet, before returning to the TARDIS, the Chancellor also made a few calls, dressed in his black cloak, masquerading as his Sith personage. These conversations Donna was not privy to. She had been locked in a spare room. All she knew was that her captor had been busy plotting.

Despite being scared, she filed away this information, knowing it would come in handy for later. Especially if she and the Doctor could fix what was being changed.

"You won't stop me," her captor grated to her. "Whilst I have you, the Doctor won't try to stop me. He is far too noble to risk your life. Do not think I won't need you after this. You will live to see my success."

Donna swallowed, shivering. She wanted to get out of here.

* * *

They were away from the TARDIS for a total of four hours. What Palpatine had been doing the Doctor could only guess at. He knew large changes had been made to the time-line they had originally visited. He had felt the reverberations of it echoing across time. He still hadn't managed to unpin himself from the strut despite his constant struggles.

"In!"

Donna stumbled across the TARDIS threshold, falling to the metal floor, grazing her chin as she landed.

The Chancellor stepped in behind her.

"I suppose you want to go back to your timeline?"

The man smirked. "Yes, I do." His fingers moved slightly and the invisible force binding the Doctor fell away.

Knowing he had no choice, the Doctor moved towards the console, running his hands lovingly over the controls, and then sent the TARDIS whirling into the vortex.

"Take me to the depths of Coruscant, the criminal underworld," the Sith ordered.

The Doctor didn't like that. He adjusted the co-ordinates. If only the TARDIS could stop working…

But she didn't as his pride and joy landed with another thump and a groan.

"Open the doors," the man ordered.

The Doctor's eyes closed briefly. Walking reluctantly over to the doors, the Doctor threw them open. An intense smell reached his nose and he gagged.

"Doctor!" yelled Donna.

Turning at her sudden yell, with his eyes widening at the crooked hands that were slowly moving upwards from Sidious' side to point directly at his body, the Doctor only had one thought: _MOVE!_

But he knew, even as he rolled to the side it would be fruitless.

The lightning struck him.

 **To be continued...**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

 **So we are reaching the point where the Prologue occurs...**

 **The next chapter will be posted next week :)**

 **Until then,**

 **the-writer1988**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N) I keep forgetting to update. Sorry!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

As he rose to consciousness, the first thing the Doctor realised was that he was lying in blood.

For a brief moment the Doctor wondered whose blood it was, before the pain hit him like a high-speed train slamming into his entire body. The shock of the pain made him cough; his entire body jolting and rippling through with what felt like fire as the ejection of his breath sent dust up from the barren ground - dust that went straight back into his nose and made him cough some more. Eventually he managed to get it under control, and fully opened his eyes.

He was lying on his side in some sort of rundown warehouse - walls seemingly crumbling around his very ears - and he was even lying on a pile of broken wood and slates. The reason for that quickly became apparent as he turned his head to look directly upwards at a rather large and somewhat Doctor-shaped hole in the ceiling.

The Time Lord coughed again, trying to force himself to get up, but he only managed to raise one leg before it dropped redundantly back down. His entire body was still on fire.

He could remember every detail - every facet of what Sidious had done to him, and even the memory of it hurt. He knew it had been Force Lightning, just as Obi Wan had described, and the Doctor could tell that the amount used on him meant Sidious had meant to kill him. He so very nearly had. It had taken over the Doctor completely - his entire body wrapped in electricity, coursing up and down his flesh and bone body for what had felt like days. The Doctor had fought, fought so hard to stay conscious, to stop Sidious from taking the TARDIS - but in the end it had been too much. He'd passed out. He had no idea what had happened after that.

But one thing was for definite. Sidious now had the TARDIS. And although the Doctor had only just arrived in this universe, he knew that Darth Sidious having a time travelling machine was a very, _very_ bad suitcase. He needed to get up, get back to the Jedi Temple and find a way to get his TARDIS back.

Wait, where was Donna?

The Doctor's eyes bolted open wide as the thought hit him, before he forced himself to look around to try and find an appropriately-shaped humanoid next to him. But he couldn't see her.

"Donna?" he tried, but even his voice box seemed to be on fire and as a result the word came out sounding like a chainsaw. He coughed again, plucked up some courage and tried again. "Donna!"

Only his own chainsaw voice echoed back to him.

He wasn't going to like it, but he had to get up.

He took a few long deep breaths... and sat up. He bit his lip, forcing the endorphins to flood his system to try and numb the pain. It didn't seem to work, but now he was committed. He drew back his legs, positioned his hands and pushed himself upright in one swift movement. Unfortunately the nearly caused him to fall forward onto his face but he managed to catch himself on a wooden support strut, panting.

"Donna?" he tried again, but he already knew she wasn't there. Did Sidious still have her? _Please no..._

He saw the door - or at least, a gap in the wall. He moved towards it (one foot in front of the other, if the pain would let him recall the act of walking correctly) and stepped out into the open.

He barely had any time to take in his surroundings before a figure suddenly appeared, stepping out of seemingly nowhere. It was humanoid but it looked like a squid, with many long tentacles coming out of its face. It had two big fangs that were chipped and yellow, and dark piercing eyes. To round it all off, it was holding a gun.

"You look lost," it grated.

The Doctor's head felt like his brain was twice the size of his skull, so could barely think of a line to defuse what was obviously about to happen. "S-sorry," he ended up stuttering.

"Sorry!?" the alien repeated, snarling. "You look rich, gimme your credits."

"I d-don't have any c-credits..." he managed to say, his mouth struggling to forms words.

"GIVE ME YOUR CREDITS!" the alien yelled, and shoved the gun right in the Doctor's face. Seconds later, three more of the alien's kind stepped out of the shadows, staring at the Time Lord with horrible grins. The Doctor's eyes dropped to their hands, in which they held an array of sharp and blunt objects he was very sure he was going to feel the end of whether he had any credits or not.

He tensed himself up, and prepared himself to regenerate.

* * *

She wasn't even supposed to be in this sector. She had been out scouting for food when she had felt a dark disturbance in the Force and she wasn't going to ignore it. The Force was so full of darkness these days that it had become difficult to distinguish where bursts of dark power originated from however the one she had sensed had been very close to her position By all reason Ahsoka Tano should have returned to her Master and reported the irregularity

Crouching low, moving swiftly on her feet Ahsoka moved towards cruel, unnerving laughter. Gripping the hilts of her lightsabers, she peered around a corner and saw a man crumbled on the floor, blood pouring from his wounds, and four aliens bashing him with iron rods, though each of the four had blasters holstered to the sides of their legs. The man was still weakly making sounds but Ahsoka could feel in the Force, his life-force fleeing away.

Noticing that the man on the floor was weakly moving, Ahsoka jumped out of her hiding place, and yelled: "Leave him alone!"

The four attackers turned from their plaything and laughed at seeing her there, but she activated her lightsabers, crossing them in front of her, glaring at the four aliens.

"Don't even think about it!" she said, stepping forward.

"She's just a kid! She can't do nuffin'!" laughed one of the aliens.

Ahsoka couldn't figure out the species. They seemed to have a lot physical characteristics of the Nautolan race however their eyes did not match that race. They were likely hybrids, created from cross-species interaction. She gripped her lightsabers tighter. "Underestimating me is a big mistake."

Each attacker threw their bats away and brought forth their blasters. Each held two, one in each hand, and without warning, blaster fire erupted. Ahsoka leapt away, blocking each bolt with inhuman speed, the Force aiding her as she deflected each and every shot back at her attackers.

Within minutes the blaster-fire stopped.

"We ain't even touched her!"

Ahsoka grinned, sensing victory. "Want to keep on trying or do you want to escape with your lives?" she threatened.

"Let's get outta here!" another of the aliens said before they all turned and ran.

Deactivating her lightsabers, Ahsoka stepped forward, kneeling down beside the wounded man. Gently she patted him on the shoulder. "Hey… it's okay. They've gone." She could sense the man was incredibly weak and she couldn't leave him here to die either. Something was telling her to help him. She couldn't take him back to their secret base… What if he was an enemy employed by Sidious to track them down?

The Sith Lord knew Jedi had survived his slaughter of them years ago… Knew they remained in the depths of Coruscant but he had never been able to trace them… What if this man was part of a plot to ensure he found them?

Ahsoka swallowed. Reaching to her belt she unclipped a small detector. Running it over the man's body, it came up negative for any tracers that could have been hidden on him. Her device was designed to find anything on the outside or on the inside.

"I can't leave him here to die," she said quietly.

Using the Force, Ahsoka levitated the man and hastily made her exit from the area, following her gut instinct to take the man to their secret base. The Force had led her to him. There had to be a reason why she had felt compelled to investigate rather than follow the rules that had been drilled into her ever since she had been brought to this planet eleven years ago.

Even if she would get in trouble for saving the man's life, she felt it was the right thing to do.

* * *

Curled up on the cell floor, Donna licked her lips. She needed water. But no one had come to see her in a few days. She was gradually getting weaker. She could remember the Doctor being forced out of the TARDIS, screaming his lungs out from the torture that had been inflicted upon him. Once the Doctor had gone, Sidious had returned to the controls and expertly piloted the ship back to the present time, clearly having observed the Doctor's piloting enough.

Then Donna had been led from the TARDIS and out into a vastly different world. A part of her wondered how this future was possible. If the Chancellor had changed the past, then wouldn't the version that had time-travelled cease to exist? Wasn't this some big time mess up that could not possible occur?

Her head hurt as dehydration took its toll.

"Doctor…" she managed through cracked and bleeding lips. "Are you still alive…? Please…help me…"

* * *

The Doctor woke to a blinding white light. His limbs hurt and his head pounded.

"Who are you?"

The Doctor blinked. The harsh voice rocked through his ears. He noticed his wrists were chained to a metal chair and his ankles to the legs. The last thing he remembered was four aliens laying into him. Had he regenerated? Nah, he decided. He couldn't have regenerated and still be in this much pain.

"WHO ARE YOU?"

The Doctor tried to focus on the speaker but his vision blurred. He tasted blood in his mouth and realised his suit was drenched in blood – his blood – and his right elbow was at a strange angle, despite his wrists being chained. Pain engulfed his body everywhere.

A kinder voice interrupted his thoughts.

"I did suggest to heal him before tossing him into the interrogation chair."

Oh, right so he was being interrogated.

"He's heavily concussed."

"We are not healing him until we have established his identity, Ahsoka!"

The Doctor's eyes finally focused on his would-be interrogator and he realised immediately who it was. "Windu."

The man's sharp eyes focused squarely on the Doctor's. "How do you know me?"

"Met'cha before," coughed the Doctor, his chest hurting with every wheeze.

"I've never met you before!" the man replied.

"I have…" Blood dribbled down the Doctor's chin. "In 'nother time."

"What?"

Someone grabbed his lapels and lifted him up as high as the chains would allow. The Doctor screamed as bones and muscles pulled and he realised his body had multiple fractures in both arms and legs. Weren't Jedi supposed to be compassionate? Why would they interrogate someone who badly needed healing first?

"Master!" yelled the female who the Doctor identified as this Ahsoka. "Don't do this! If you want answers, heal him! The Force led me to him for a reason, I just know it!"

"You disobeyed our direct orders, _Padawan_ ," spat Windu. "You brought a stranger into our base without our authorisation. He could be dangerous! We have to establish who he is first before we even attempt to offer aid! You know our protocols!"

"In this case, those protocols abandoned they should be," said a new voice.

The Doctor frowned. Was that Yoda? He found himself being lowered back into his seat, pain still rocketing around his body.

"Master Yoda, I strongly advise against breaking protocol," reiterated Windu strongly.

"Hmmm, disagree I do. Help this man can be to our cause if healed he is. A vision I have had."

The Doctor's eyes were closed again yet he heard the distinct footsteps walking away and he deduced it was Windu.

A soft hand gently landed on his shoulder. "Don't worry, help is here now."

The Doctor fell into unconsciousness once more.

* * *

When he woke once more, all of his limbs were in casts and he was laying on his back on a bed in a small room. It was rather dreary in the room. The Doctor glanced around trying to figure it all out when he noticed someone sitting in a chair by the wall, watching him carefully.

She wasn't human as she had tails trailing down the side of her face to just below her shoulders and they also extended upwards. She had bright green eyes and her skin was orange with white striped decorating her face. She was watching him curiously.

"Hello…" he managed.

"Hi," she smiled back. "I'm Ahsoka."

"This isn't another interrogation is it?" he asked croakily.

She shook her head. "No. I've been ordered to watch over you. As I brought you here, you are my responsibility."

"Shouldn't I have been then?" he asked.

"No one comes here apart from those cleared. We are…" Ahsoka bit her lip, "in hiding."

"Ah…" The Doctor swallowed. He had feared something like this. He had felt the timeline change as Sidious had ensured his own success. "Why are you in hiding?"

"That really isn't my place to say," replied Ahsoka. "Just that we are wanted."

"By Sidious?" the Doctor risked asking.

"Yes…" she hesitantly answered.

The Doctor groaned. "This is all my fault."

The girl's head twitched to the side. "How is any of this your fault?"

"Because it is. This wasn't meant to be your future…"

"I'm sorry, I'm not following…"

He could barely get another word out before unconsciousness claimed him again.

 **To be continued...**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

 **There will be answers as to what is going on later on in the fic... Just hang on :)**

 **Until next time,**

 **the-writer1988**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N) I don't know why but I keep forgetting to post. Oops. Oh well, at least I remembered on Christmas Eve right? Anyway... anyone seen the new Star Wars film? I have. That's all I'm saying.**

 **Here is the next chapter...**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

Darth Vader strode into the Imperial Palace. His home had once held the thousands of Jedi Knights that had 'protected' the galaxy. When his Master had assumed full control, he had taken the Jedi's home as his palace, converting it into his own museum of dark side artefacts as well as a training centre for those he hand-picked to be his right hand men.

Vader had been one of the fortunate ones. His discovery by his Lord and Master had been very different from other workers of his Master. Vader had been discovered on a back-water planet – Tatooine – living as a slave alongside his mother. Sidious had rescued them when Vader had been three years old. Vader's training in the ways of the Force had begun then.

At the age of sixteen, his Master had deemed him fit to be known as a fully-fledge Sith. As a test of his obedience and loyalty to both Sidious and the dark side of the Force, his Master had instructed him to kill his mother: Shmi Skywalker.

Vader had ceased caring for her and killing his mother had been joyous. Her death had ensured his full ascent. He knew she would understand. Despite her misgivings and continued attempts to prevent Sidious from trying to turn Vader, deep down he felt his mother had known what role she was to play and had accepted it when Vader had come to kill her.

She had not fought back.

Vader walked towards the dungeons. It was time he paid his weekly visit to his Master's prisoner. Sweeping his goldy-brown hair out of his orange eyes, Vader merged himself into the Force, calling on the arsenal the dark side presented to him. He would need this power if he wanted to make his enemy scream.

* * *

He could barely remember the last time he had seen sunlight.

 _Was it nearly twenty-six years?_

He hadn't left this cell in so long… He knew he had been here at least a quarter of a century. He had grown from a child to a man here. He had been training as a Jedi when they had come. He had been ten years old when the white-armoured trooper had come to the Temple and slaughtered everyone.

Everyone apart from him.

Instead they had captured him and brought him to this place where he had been chained all these long years. His hair, once short was now trailing down his back and he had a beard that fell to below his shoulders. He hadn't washed in years. He survived on a morsel of food and liquids given to him once a day.

Once he had been chained to the wall. Now he was too weak to move.

Even if his captors left the door open he wouldn't have the strength to even attempt to escape.

He still did not know fully why he had been spared the slaughter from the Temple. All he knew was that he had done something to the Sith and now he was sentenced to a life-time of suffering. But what had he, as a ten-year old child, done to anger the Sith so much? He had never had a direct answer. He hadn't seen Sidious in years… Now he was seen to by the Emperor's right-hand man, Darth Vader.

A feeling of dread reached him. Using the minimal amount of the Force he could access, he sensed a dark presence coming his way.

Vader was on his way.

In his cell, curled up on the floor, Obi-Wan Kenobi shivered, wishing that the Sith would leave him alone.

Already he knew his wish was useless.

He would never be left alone.

* * *

In a cell just down the corridor from Vader's destination lay Donna Noble. She tried to cover her ears from the screams that echoed down the hallway. Even as she tried to ignore the painful screams and the horrible laughter, she had a distinct impression she recognised the voices.

But she didn't want to believe what her heart was telling her.

"It can't be them… It just can't be…" she whispered to herself over and over.

* * *

The Doctor woke from slumber almost a day later. He found himself still on the same bed as before, complete with casts on. He was alone but he could see the door was locked. Even if he could walk – which he couldn't – he wouldn't get far. Gritting his teeth, the Doctor let out a sigh of frustration.

He was stuck here whilst the universe changed irrevocably. What more could he do? He did need the use of his arms and legs if he wanted to prevent the timelines from becoming too damaged. Whilst Sidious had the TARDIS and knew how to use it, a huge paradox had been created. The Doctor could sense it.

But it was a paradox that would be difficult to undo completely. Some of the changes would remain. The original timeline the Doctor and his companion had arrived in was damaged beyond repair. But they might be able to fix things as much as possible, providing he was allowed free.

He had a feeling gaining his freedom would be difficult. It didn't help that he was stuck with the same Jedi as before. Well, apart from the one he had identified as Ahsoka.

"I have to make them understand," he said aloud.

"Understand what?" a female voice piped up.

The Doctor swallowed. He hadn't noticed Ahsoka sitting behind him. "About what I said earlier."

"I think you were concussed," she answered. "The resistance leaders wish to talk to you anyway. For some reason Master Windu feels that he has met you before even though he maintains he has never seen you before."

At least that was a good thing. "The old memories are still there. Just buried very deep."

"Huh?"

The Doctor shook his head. "It's nothing. Actually it's complicated. Very complicated."

"Right…" Ahsoka pursed her lips. "The Master's will be coming to interrogate you shortly. I hope you make some sort of sense for them. They don't take confusion lightly. Especially Master Windu."

"He does have a bit of a short fuse for a Jedi, doesn't he?" the Doctor commented.

Ahsoka shrugged. "Circumstances changed the Jedi Order. We've all had to adapt to survive." She sank back against the wall, out of the Doctor's line of sight. "If it hadn't been for the Jedi, I'd be dead now."

"Why?" asked the Doctor.

"Because the Jedi were wiped out twenty-five years ago. I'm fourteen. I wasn't even born. Since then our esteemed Emperor has been hunting down the remaining Jedi, trying to exterminate them. He finds anyone born with Force sensitivity and either trains them in the way of the dark side or kills them. The Emperor prefers human servants than anyone of other species. The Emperor learned about my potential and ordered my execution. I was saved by Master Windu and Master Koon. They learned about me from a mutual Senator friend… They managed to get to my home-world and whisk me away before my executioners could get there. Since then I have been raised here, honing my potential in the Force, in the hope that one day we can end the Sith's rule."

"So I guess your mission is to kill Sidious?"

"Yes," answered Ahsoka. "When we have enough trained Jedi we will launch an attack on him but until that point we just have to hide and survive and hope he doesn't find us. We move base every few months."

"How many of you are there?" asked the Doctor. "How many survived?"

"Three Masters survived. Windu, Yoda and Koon. They managed to rescue ten trainee Jedi at the time. Since then six of those are now Jedi Knights and another seven Force sensitive children were brought into the Order. In total there are twenty of us. Not enough to take on the Emperor. He is far too powerful for us and most of us are still in training. We need to have at least fifty Jedi before we can even consider going against him publicly. It will be years before we reach that number but we have to keep on trying, hoping that one day the Force will be with us instead of with the Sith."

The Doctor clenched his teeth together. He knew this was all his fault. He would have to tell them. If he could get to his TARDIS he may be able to alter everything. But he needed to assess the damage to the timeline as well. This universe was one big paradox – without the TARDIS Sidious would never have been able to go back in time and change so much, but he couldn't stop that from happening as crossing his own timeline would cause ramifications that would rip through the time vortex. However without the timeline existing for Sidious to have stolen the TARDIS in the first place, it made this whole universe balance precariously. This wasn't a simple paradox like the one that had engulfed Earth which had been easily fixable. This paradox was galaxy-wide, effecting many worlds and lives rather than just one planet.

But the question remained: how could Sidious have the TARDIS if the timeline had had acquired it in didn't exist anymore? The Doctor bit his lip – he already knew he wouldn't be able to restore things unless he was very lucky.

"I'm going to help you," the Doctor said to Ahsoka.

"I'm not sure what help you could be to us…" she answered.

"You wouldn't believe it if I told you," he said.

The sound of a door sliding open got his attention and he turned his head to see the three Jedi Masters enter the room. Yoda sat on a repulsor chair, allowing him to float alongside his two colleagues.

"Ahsoka, you can leave us," said Windu sternly, folding his arms across his chest.

Ahsoka nimbly left the room, shutting the door behind her.

The Doctor felt unease welling in his stomach. He couldn't move due to the casts on both his arms and legs. He was surprised when the three Jedi Masters moved in front of him so he didn't have to turn his head to look at them.

"Who are you?" Windu asked.

"I'm the Doctor."

"What type of doctor are you?" asked Master Koon, whose face was covered by a breath mask.

"That's my name. The Doctor," he clarified. "But I'm a Doctor of everything, or nothing, depending on who you ask."

"How do I know you when I've never met you before?" Windu asked sharply.

"It's complicated," replied the Doctor. It was the only way he could say it.

"Explain."

The Doctor sighed. "You probably won't believe this… We _have_ met before…but not in this timeline. In an alternate one. You're getting residual feelings breaking through from a universe that was messed with. I'm a time-traveller. I have a ship that I can use to go anywhere in time and space. It was stolen from me by your Darth Sidious… He changed the timeline I originally met you in. Parts of that universe are still leaking through in your memories even though it no longer exists."

Windu's eyes hardened. "You lie."

"Would I really make this up?" countered the Doctor. "I can't move. What is the point of me lying when you would get the truth from me anyway?"

"He tells the truth…" Master Koon murmured.

"Time travel is impossible," stated Windu.

"Not for me it isn't," added the Doctor. "I can help you. This universe is my fault. I can get it back to normal. Well, probably."

"Normal what was it like?" asked Yoda, speaking for the first time.

That was a difficult question. "The Jedi were not wiped out. You were fighting a war against a group of Separatists. You were trying to find the identity of a Sith Lord. The first Jedi I met were Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Kenobi was on the Council…" A sudden thought struck him. "Is Obi-Wan here?"

The three Jedi Masters exchanged glances.

"We do not know who this Anakin Skywalker is…" answered Master Koon. "But Obi-Wan Kenobi we do know of…"

"Can I speak to him?" the Doctor asked.

Windu shook his head. "Obi-Wan Kenobi was ten years old when he was killed in the attack on the Jedi Temple when Palpatine took power and revealed himself to be a Sith Lord."

"Oh…" That was unexpected. So Obi-Wan was dead and it seemed Anakin had never become a Jedi.

"Though never found his body did we," noted Yoda, "when we returned to the Temple in a bid to stop other Jedi from walking into the trap set by Sidious."

Windu sighed. "Kenobi is dead. Not finding his body doesn't prove a thing."

The Doctor wanted to argue that point but chose not to.

"The fact that this Doctor knows of a former Jedi child does point to the idea he may be telling the truth," concluded Koon. "Even I have a sense I have met him before…" He cocked his head to the side, studying the Doctor. "Did we ever meet before in this other 'timeline'?"

"All of you interrogated me and my friend –"

"Donna, wasn't it?" Windu asked quietly. His voice was kinder, as if some old memories were starting to come to the surface.

"Yes!" the Doctor exclaimed. "We were interrogated by you because my ship crashed inside your Temple. You let us leave but I took Anakin and Obi-Wan in my ship… When we arrived back on Coruscant we were outside the Senate, where we then went to meet Chancellor Palpatine with Anakin… It was after that Donna was kidnapped and used against me. Sidious took control of my ship… I don't know what he changed to make him win earlier than planned but I'm the only one who stands a chance of fixing it."

"That's if we believe what you are saying," said Windu, his voice now hard again. "You could be trying to trick us."

The Doctor sighed. "You were stubborn like this before. Look, you want to destroy the Sith, right?"

"We do," confirmed Yoda.

"Then help me get my ship back. If I can get it back, I can go back in time and prevent this universe from ever happening. Your world will go back to how it was."

"We do not have the Jedi numbers to do as you ask," stated Windu. "And you are injured. We do not have any bacta tanks to put you in."

The Doctor grinned. "I heal fast. My bones will have set within a few days. Give me a week and these casts can be removed. A day later I will be walking. And if I'm not healed in that time then… well… I guess you could say I am lying to you about everything." It was a risky thing he was trying to pull. But he had to. He could heal in that time, providing he put himself into an incredibly deep healing coma.

Windu grimaced. "Fine. If you say you can help us, we will allow you to work with us but you will do as we say. And if you are not healed within the time you specified then we will be going into more radical methods to get answers from you. Clear?"

"Crystal," said the Doctor.

After that the Jedi Masters left him alone. Closing his eyes the Doctor fell into a healing coma, hoping that he would heal before his self-picked deadline.

* * *

Sidious leaned back in his chair.

His victory was complete. The Doctor's ship was safely tucked away in a vault deep down in the palace. The vault was only accessible to two people: himself and Vader. Other objects were held in the vault but the time travel machine was his pride and joy. He had only used it three times since acquiring it from the Doctor – the first to set in motion the building of his clone army to begin twenty-five years earlier than originally. The second time he had used the time-ship was after he had left the Doctor to die in the present time when he had gone back to that same time period and spoke to his younger self, giving instructions as to how he could rid the galaxy of the Jedi and gain full control. And then the third time he had used the ship was to murder his own younger self after he had achieved everything and set himself up in his place.

Since then Sidious had controlled the galaxy: finding a three year old Anakin Skywalker in slavery and bringing him to Coruscant to raise him in the ways of the Sith. He had also ensured a young Obi-Wan Kenobi suffered for his whole life for all the damage he had inflicted upon Sidious in his old timeline.

It was sweet revenge for Sidious, one he was relishing.

However he had one concern.

The hunters he had hired to ensure the Doctor had died had never returned to him and he had to wonder if the meddlesome man had somehow survived. Searching for the man's presence in the Force didn't seem to yield any results for some reason but he had to be dead for him to be unable to sense him. So why hadn't the hunters returned to collect their reward? Perhaps they had realised their reward would have resulted in death for them. Sidious had no use for hunters who knew much after all.

The Force was with him: his plans had come to fruition and now no one would ever stop him.

The galaxy was _finally_ his.

 **To be continued...**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

 **Okay so this chapter had quite a few answers in it, as to exactly what is going on. Obi-Wan is dead, though the reader knows he isn't. And Anakin is Darth Vader... And the Jedi were wiped out years ago... It's a bit dark and depressing...**

 **I promise to update next week! :)**

 **Until then, have a good Christmas!**

 **the-writer1988**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N) I have a good reason for not updating last week despite promising. I got sick.**

 **Chapter 10**

Since the Doctor's questioning by the Jedi Masters he had been left alone to heal. The Doctor knew how quickly his injuries would heal which was why he had given the Jedi Master's a timeframe. He hoped it would help them trust him. The only visitor he continued to receive was Ahsoka. It seemed she had been told she was responsible for him considering she was the one who had helped him and brought him to their base. The Doctor had been given a data-pad by Ahsoka, one that was heavily encrypted so its users could never be traced. He had begun to research the universe, trying to figure out when the moment of intervention was.

Unfortunately he needed the TARDIS to pinpoint the exact location so his research wasn't that useful. The TARDIS would be able to tell him how he could fix the timeline. He could feel it in his head – it felt wrong. Everything about this world was out of place.

Was it even possible to return it to normal? So much had changed because of Sidious' intervention.

But there was one thing that bothered him more than anything: that the Jedi's old memories of his previous meeting with them were still there. Those memories shouldn't be breaking through, despite what he had told the Jedi Master's in his interrogation.

They shouldn't even have those memories or those feelings to begin with… So why did they have them?

It was a thought he kept mulling over, unable to give himself a satisfactory answer.

"I'm missing something… but what is it?"

* * *

On the second day of his healing journey the Doctor started to draw out a plan. Though he couldn't physically draw due to the casts, he was lucky the datapad Ahsoka had given him – which was set up on a stand beside his bed - had been keyed to his voice, allowing him to use it to start conducting a plan that would enable him to return the universe to its original timeline.

Using old images and old maps in the Jedi's possession, the Doctor succeeded in constructing a map that would allow him to plan his every move. Ahsoka also helped him by giving him her knowledge of the Coruscant underworld. Despite only being a teenager, she had spent a lot of her time in the underworld the last few months, getting to know her way around. Her knowledge proved useful and it allowed the Doctor to make some assumptions with his map. He only hoped these assumptions would hold up when it came to carrying out his plan.

On his third day the Doctor talked to Plo Koon, whilst upgrading the Jedis' wrist straps. He knew he had to give them some sort of protection to enable them to get into the deep domain commanded by Sidious. Ahsoka had helped him by bringing him technology from old holo-pads, radios and torches which the Doctor took apart (Ahsoka doing the work since his arms were in casts) and then sonicked together to Plo Koon's own wrist-strap, giving it a short invisibility boost. It wouldn't last long, only for about five minutes so the Jedi would have to be careful when they deployed it. Most of their mission would have to succeed on luck of the Force rather than the Doctor's modifications. That was what he wanted to talk to Plo Koon about. The Doctor wanted to understand the Force and how much they'd be able to use it to get into the old Jedi Temple.

The answers hadn't been reassuring but the Jedi Master had assured the Doctor that if it was the will of the Force for the Jedi to die trying to serve the light then they would follow it. It was for that reason the Doctor wanted them to survive, even if it meant they suffered a fate of not having existed in this timeline at all. He wanted to give them a chance to survive. Even a small invisibility boost would help them, providing they deployed it when they most needed it.

Later that same day the Doctor spoke to Mace Windu and Yoda, the latter being more friendly with the Doctor, as if he was feeling the Doctor would be trusted. That boded well especially since Windu would be on any strike team involved in any of the Doctor's plans to fix the timeline. The Doctor couldn't help but wonder if the reason for Mace's more friendly tone was due to his aid in creating a device that might help the Jedi infiltrate their old home. But the Doctor needed all the friends he could if he was to succeed in putting things right.

After all, this was all his fault. The least he could do was return things to as much normalcy as possible.

On the fourth and fifth day the Doctor went back into a healing coma to help boost his healing. If he had, had the TARDIS he would have been able to do this quicker but he had wanted to build bridges with the Jedi first before going into one. He had a plan and he had the trust – or at least the respect of the Jedi Masters – to feel he could go into a coma and increase his body's ability to heal itself. He had instructed his inner body clock to wake him in forty-eight hours. By that time his bones should have been healed and all he would need to do was rehabilitation to get himself back into using his limbs.

On the sixth day the Doctor spoke to Ahsoka about his plan whilst rehabilitating his limbs, going through several exercises to get function back to normal. It didn't surprise him that Ahsoka was pressuring the Masters about being allowed to join the team. She had the right skills, the right attitude and she was small, which gave them the advantage when it came to ducts. She could sneak in, in ways the other Jedi could not. The only problem with Ahsoka's inclusion was that she wasn't a full Jedi Knight.

On the seventh day the Doctor worried about the magnitude of the problem he had to solve. Not only did he have to restore the universe to normal, he had to stop Sidious completely but he also had to find and save Donna and get his TARDIS back. All of those objectives, the Doctor realised, were going to be extraordinarily difficult. And it made him worry about what could go wrong.

* * *

After what seemed like forever, but was really eight days, the Doctor had fully recovered from his injuries, just as he had told the Jedi Master's he would be. He was still a bit wobbly on his feet as his body got used to walking again after the fractures he had suffered.

The Doctor surprised the Jedi Master's by walking into their control room in the afternoon of the eighth day. "Morning," he greeted, flexing his arms pointedly.

Windu folded his arms across his chest. "It seems there is some merit to your words, Doctor."

"And I haven't just been laying there snoozing all week either," countered the Doctor. He clapped his hands together. "Thirty-six years ago time changed for the worst. Your Darth Sidious forced me to his bidding, using my friend against me and we need to change that. I can lead us to my TARDIS. As soon as I get her back, I can fix things."

"If this ship is as important as you say it is, Doctor, than it will be heavily guarded," said Windu.

The Doctor shook his head. "Not necessarily." He held up a finger. "One: Sidious doesn't know I survived his assassination." He held up a second finger. "Two: No one else knows about the TARDIS. Sidious wouldn't tell anybody about it. Best way to raise suspicion is by having a heavy guard about it, so he's not dumb enough to do that. And three: He doesn't know we're coming. If we _are_ detected, Sidious may raise the alarm and security but he won't reinforce the TARDIS. He wouldn't expect Jedi to know of the device he used to alter time or what he has done to ensure his power. We've got the advantage."

Yoda moved his hover chair closer to the Doctor. "Modifications you have made, useful they will be."

"Yes, there is that too. The wrist-straps – one use of an invisibility booster. Only use it when absolutely necessary. If we use it too early we lose the advantage. Better to use it closer to our goal than ages before. I suspect the further we go into the Sith's domain, the more difficult it'll be to pass easily without alerting the whole place," the Doctor said, grinning. "Use the booster carefully."

Windu crossed his arms over his chest. "What's your plan?"

"First, how many Jedi are going?"

"Five. Myself and Master Koon will represent the Masters. Master Yoda has elected to stay behind. If we perish we need at least one Master to survive to continue our Order," answered Windu. "Three of our Knights have also been selected. They are the most skilled and have the most experience other than us. We need to preserve the Order if this mission is unsuccessful."

"Ok, what about Ahsoka?" the Doctor could see she had value to the mission.

"She is not a Knight," said Plo Koon, placing his hands down on the table. "It is out of the question for her to accompany us."

"She would be very beneficial to the team. She is the oldest learner you have here. She's small and…" the Doctor was cut off.

"We said 'NO'!" growled Windu.

The Doctor sighed. "Fine. But you are making a mistake. If you want me to fix things, I can't do it without her."

"Are you saying you would disobey us despite our order?" Windu asked, his eyes narrowing.

The Doctor stood up straight. "Yes."

"Let Padawan Tano go we must," said Yoda, stepping forward with his gimmer stick. "Decided we have to trust and work with the Doctor. His judgement we must respect."

Windu pursed his lips but he didn't contest the senior Master.

"Anyway… my plan is simple. Get into the palace using the undercity. There are lots of different ways in and out. We don't need to go in lightsabers blazing at the front door. The sewers are our best chance. If I'm right, and I usually am, we should enter near the dungeons. My friend is likely to be held there. I'd like to rescue her first. Maybe even cause a diversion by freeing any other prisoners too," the Doctor explained. "After that, me and Donna will head to the TARDIS and the rest of you will have to hunt down Sidious. We'll join you when we can." He rocked back and forth on his toes, stretching his muscles as he waited for the verdict.

"That's not very detailed," Windu said concerned, the ire colouring his voice earlier had dissipated.

"I specialise in making things up as I go along," the Doctor grinned.

Plo Koon, if he could have grimaced, would have done but was prevented by the oxygen mask covering his face. The Doctor had learned that his particular species needed a particular atmosphere to breathe so Plo Koon had to always have a breathing apparatus. "That is not very reassuring. Jedi operate on plans rather than blind luck."

The Doctor shrugged. "In this very unusual case I recommend it. Nothing will go to plan, better to go in without a proper plan than have it fall apart around us. You've decided to trust me and I promise I won't fail you. The whole universe is at stake otherwise." It was true, especially if Sidious decided to run amok elsewhere in the universe. It surprised the Doctor he hadn't but perhaps he was content with his Empire in this galaxy? He had the whole of time and space at his fingertips and yet…

No… it was impossible…

He would have to figure out why the rest of the universe was still stable yet this reality was falling apart around them. It felt like that anyway…

The Doctor shook his head, coming back to himself, noting that the three Jedi were looking at him curiously. "Right, yes! Sorry." He clapped his hands together. "What did you say?"

"When are we leaving?" asked Windu.

The Doctor's gaze hardened. "Tonight."

 **To be continued...**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

 **The next chapter will be posted soon.**

 **Until then,**

 **the-writer1988**


	12. Chapter 11

**And here is the next chapter...**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

The group set off from the secret Jedi base at exactly midnight. The Doctor and Ahsoka led, with the young Padawan taking more of a lead. As she had quite recent experiences in the undercity, the Doctor deemed her the most experienced to create a path for them. The two Masters had briefly frowned upon his decision but the Doctor knew that the two Masters rarely left the secret Jedi base and the three experienced Jedi Knights had been spending their time in the upper levels of the Imperial City above them.

They had only passed down a dirty and crumbling street when Ahsoka paused, her tendrils twitching before she moved once again towards the sewer grate. A horrid stench came to their noses as Ahsoka lifted up the cover.

She pulled a face. "No matter how many times I do this, I will never get used to the smell."

The Doctor motioned for her to drop down first and then moved down behind her, taking out his sonic screwdriver and scanning the surrounding area. Ahsoka held up a data-pad. "Detect anything?" he whispered to her.

"No. Not anything big anyway. Just the usual heat signatures for rats," she answered.

The Doctor activated his borrowed wrist com. "All clear. Drop down one at a time, five seconds apart from one another." He splashed away from the opening above, his favourite pair of pinstripes completely drenched in sewage.

One by one the other members of the Jedi strike team dropped into the sewer. Other than the two Master's, the three Knights consisted of two female Jedi Knights and one male Jedi Knight: Bant Erin, a Mon Calamari Jedi healer, whom the Doctor recognised from the original universe. Then there was Siri Tachi, a female human with short blonder hair but she was ferocious. Her lips were thin and she had a spark in her eye that said she could turn on one straight away if they got on the wrong side of her. Finally there was a male human who went by the name Garen. He was quite tall, with brown hair and hollow cheeks.

The Doctor turned to Ahsoka. "Lead on."

Ahsoka consulted her datapad. "There are several ways we could go. One is rather direct, however the others are less conventional. There is a chance the direct route may be covered by sentries."

"We are taking no chances," said Windu quickly. "This is, perhaps, the only chance we have. If we do not get this right, we may be waiting years for another attempt."

"Doctor?" inquired Ahsoka.

"More complex," confirmed the Doctor. "It'll take more time, but better safe than sorry."

"Erm, if the direct way is watched, why wouldn't any other way be?" asked Siri Tachi.

"Ah, good question!" The Doctor held up a finger, his mouth opened, before closing it again.

"And?" the blonde haired Jedi urged when the Doctor failed to elaborate.

The Doctor scratched the back of his head. "It's a risk we'll have to take. There's a sewer that's completely blocked off, which is the one we should try and get to. That sewer can be reached through a small network of tunnels that run adjacent to it. Luckily those tunnels sort of connect with this sewer."

"And what about surveillance?" Siri Tachi asked.

"Cameras aren't a problem," the Doctor said with a smile, holding up the sonic screwdriver for them all to see.

Garen scratched his head. "So, we're aiming for a sewer that isn't connected to any others?"

"Yep. And it's Ahsoka's role to ensure we get to that closed-off sewer." The Doctor gleamed. "And I'd appreciate it if we could get moving as I'd like to get the smell of sewer away from my legs as quickly as possible."

Taking her cue, Ahsoka started to walk away. The others followed.

* * *

They took many turns, climbed a lot of ladders and went back on themselves after they had gone one level up, until they finally arrived in front of a steel door located next to a power generator that controlled the flushing network in the sewers.

"First stage of the sewer-walk is nearly achieved," muttered the Doctor as he sonicked the steel door. He pulled it open with the aid of Plo Koon.

The tunnels were too dark to see anything, so they had to carefully make their way by touch rather than vision. Though they all had torches they had agreed not to use them in this part. If these tunnels were observed then the use of torches would reveal their identities. Maintaining the darkness should give them the advantage.

The tunnel took them up at a steep slope before branching off in different directions. The Doctor led them to the right. They continued to move upwards before the Doctor stopped and pointed to the wall.

"Lightsaber cut here."

"What?" questioned Windu.

"We're at the entrance to the sewer of the Jedi Temple. There's no way into that sewer unless we cut into it," the Doctor said, holding up Ahsoka's datapad. There was a little X next to an area in one of the tunnels on the map. Beside that little X were seven heat signatures representing the Doctor and his allies.

"I'll do it," volunteered Plo Koon, igniting his lightsaber and plunging it into the wall, beginning to make a circle.

The Doctor watched as the wall fell out into the other side. Plo Koon moved through the hole, the Doctor swiftly following, glancing around. His eyes swept all around him looking for any sign of any surveillance. He couldn't see any, and he didn't think there would be. But the stench was disgusting. He held his nose, waving the others through, watching as their expressions all changed to one that showed they'd rather be somewhere else.

"What do they dump in here?" asked Ahsoka, struggling to avoid pinching her own nose. "We should've brought breath masks."

"I see what you mean about this sewer being sort-of connected," noted Siri, her eyes brushing over the area. She pointed forwards. "There is nowhere for the rubbish to go until it piles up."

The Doctor nodded. "Exactly. But I'm pretty certain that there is a weight-restriction programme operating this pipe. When this area reaches a certain weight, the sewer opens up and they drain or dump the accumulated rubbish. And, if I'm right," he pointed at the durasteel wall in front of them, "then the dungeons are right through there. All we need to do is cut through the wall again and we'll have infiltrated the Jedi Temple's lowest floor, consequently the dungeon; the one place we definitely want to go!"

Siri edged forward, placing her hands on the durasteel wall. "Is it just me… or does anyone else sense someone in pain?"

The Doctor shook his head, but he wasn't Force sensitive.

Windu was the first of the Jedi to speak. "I do. It's faint but it is there. A Jedi is in trouble."

Ahsoka paled. "They're being tortured. We have to help them!"

The Doctor bit his lip. This was an unforeseen complication of his plan. If the Jedi sensed one of their own in the Temple then they would want to do everything they possibly could do to rescue them which could jeopardize their mission.

Siri bit her lip. "This presence… it feels like someone I should recognise… Someone I haven't sensed in many long years…"

The Mon Calamari Jedi stepped up beside the Knight. "I feel it too. I feel sad… But I don't know why."

The Doctor knew why. "It was a future that should have been but never was. Whoever this person is you must have some sort of connection with them to be able to get that reaction out of you."

"What's the plan now?" asked Plo Koon.

"We do what we did to get in here. Make a hole in the wall. And clamber through, hoping we don't actually meet any guards. We need to get Donna and this Jedi out before anyone discovers us. The last thing we need is Sidious finding out," explained the Doctor, feeling a little anxious.

Plo Koon nodded and activated his lightsabre and began to cut. Ahsoka stood to his side, watching carefully.

"We should split up," stated Siri.

The Doctor turned to face her. "We really shouldn't."

"If we are caught there will be no one left to carry out our goals," stated Siri angrily. "We need to destroy the Sith!"

The Doctor sighed. "Look, you don't need to do that. If we can find my ship I can fix all of this without any need for you to face him."

"Knight Tachi," Windu called, "we stay together."

"But…" She stopped her protest when she saw the stern glare offered at her by her senior Master, who clearly knew better. Siri folded her arms across her chest, frustrated.

The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief. He briefly wished he could have done this by himself, but the thought was somewhat fleeting. He had needed their knowledge and their experience, especially if they did run into any of the Sith. He had already experienced the wrath of one, barely escaping with his life. He just wondered how he was going to stop them from coming with him into the TARDIS, though it didn't really matter if they did. He just didn't want them erasing inside the TARDIS when he did restore the timeline to normal.

"Doctor, the cut has been made," announced Plo Koon. His hand was raised as he used the Force to keep the wall in place, and then he slowly brought his hand back as the wall came towards him, twisting both his hands down and the small bit of wall he had cut into turned and floated quietly to the ground.

The Doctor grinned. He waved his sonic screwdriver around as he peered into the hole that had been made. Stepping through, he signalled for the others to follow him. He scratched his head as he realised where they were.

Bones were scattered across the floor and a large wooden door was in front of him.

"I wasn't expecting to emerge into a cell." He stepped aside as Ahsoka came forward. "Can you open the door? My sonic doesn't work on wood."

Ahsoka raised her eyes in astonishment. "Your device works on everything else but not wood?"

"I know, I know… I should modify it…" the Doctor admitted ruefully.

Ahsoka just rolled her eyes and activated her lightsabre, plunging it through the seams of the cell door before Mace Windu pulled it open. It squeaked loudly as it was pulled but there was nothing they could do to stop it.

"I hope no one heard that…" muttered Garen as he stepped out into the dark hallway which was only lit by two lights at each end.

The Doctor moved past him. "Okay… so life-signs?" he asked quietly.

Ahsoka held up her data-pad. "Two human life-signatures are resonating from down there," she pointed ahead of them. The exit from the dungeon was behind them.

"Go figure," the Doctor muttered. His eyes scanned around and then widened as he noticed a camera staring straight at them. "Stay still." Carefully, he held up his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the camera.

There was a small bang and the camera started to smoke. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"What did you do?" hissed Siri.

"Hopefully erased any recording of us emerging from this cell," he replied. "Come on."

The group crept along the corridor, stopping in front of the fourth cell from the end.

There was someone crying within the cell – a female.

The Doctor swallowed, using his sonic to unlock the door. Unlike the cell they had arrived in, this door was metallic and had a strong locking system in place. The doors up and down the cell block varied, depending on the importance of the prisoners it seemed. Clearly the ones Sidious wanted to remain behind bars were given top security cells, however others seemed to have less security.

He doubted anyone would try to escape once captured by Sidious. It was also unlikely he would even place anyone in the lesser secured cells. Though why did he have them? That was a question that concerned the Doctor. Perhaps he had anticipated people trying to infiltrate the Temple through the sewers…

They had to speed it up.

The locks clicked and the door opened at its own accord. Motioning for the Jedi to remain on guard, the Doctor stepped into the dimly lit cell.

"Donna!" he gasped, rushing forward, crashing to his knees, reaching out to the trembling form on the floor. "Donna!" He shook her gently.

"Urgh…." Red hair spilled over her shoulders onto the floor. She blinked and slowly opened her eyes, looking up at the Time Lord. "Doctor? You're alive?"

The Doctor cocked his head to the side, a little smile lighting his features. "Come on, you know me. Tough as old boots."

"He told… me…" she whispered through cracked and bleeding lips.

Bant knelt down next to Donna, putting a flask to her lips. "Here, drink this. It will help."

The Doctor watched as Donna thirstily drank her way half-way through the flask. "He told you that he killed me?" the Doctor completed for her.

Donna nodded weakly. "Yeah…"

The Doctor shrugged. "I'm here now, Donna." A weak hand grasped his lapels.

"Doctor… The cell… down there… You won't… believe it…."

"Shh…" the Doctor urged. "You need to rest. We'll get you out of here, Donna, I promise."

The Doctor stood slowly, feeling anger rush up his body. Sidious would pay dearly for what he had done. Nobody broke Donna Noble. He turned to Ahsoka. "Stay here and look after her. We'll go to the other cell now." Clutching his sonic screwdriver in his right hand, the Doctor had renewed determination.

"No, Doctor…" Donna moaned, but he quickly shushed her.

"I'll be right back,' he assured her.

The other Jedi followed him as he paced down the hall to the end cell. Sonicking the door, it took about five minutes before the locks began to unwind and the mechanism lift. With the door unlocked, the cell door opened and the Doctor was the first to step inside. His eyes adjusted to the dark once again.

There, on the floor, in a crumpled heap on his back was a man. Despite how different the man looked, the Doctor still recognised him.

"Oh my god…" Siri breathed behind him.

"I can't believe it…" whispered Bant as Garen just stared in mute horror.

The man on the floor groaned, his face flopping to the side. Dirty and smelling, his hair was tangled and his beard had grown down to his chest. What had befallen the man saddened the Doctor and only resolved his determination to set things right.

Someone gripped the Doctor's hand. He turned to see Donna standing beside him. Evidently she had disobeyed his orders for Ahsoka to look after her in her cell. The Togrutan apprentice stood behind Donna, keeping a watchful eye upon her.

"I heard him…" Donna said quietly. "Screaming…"

The Doctor swallowed. He feared what Donna was going to say. "It's ok, Donna. You won't hear him scream again."

"Who is he?" asked Plo Koon, stepping into the cell.

Before the Doctor could answer, Siri stepped forward and gently knelt down beside the man on the floor. She brushed one length of hair from his face.

"He's the friend we lost long ago," she explained. "It's Obi-Wan Kenobi."

 **To be continued...**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

 **This alternate universe is very dark isn't it? :D**

 **Until next time,**

 **the-writer1988**


	13. Chapter 12

**And here is the next chapter...**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

The soft touch brushing his hair away from his face caused Obi-Wan to flinch. Any touch hurt him but this was pure torture. Vader used it a lot on him, making him believe he was being cared for before ripping that façade away from him and causing him pain.

"Obi?"

He clenched his eyes shut, refusing to answer. It was a trick, it had to be. Another of Vader's attempts to make his life hell. A part of him wanted to die, the other wanted to survive to live his own life. He didn't know where he got his resolve from but little by little it was crumbling. One day soon he would be a ruined wreck of a man. Only then would his captors finally kill him.

* * *

"All he knows is pain," the Doctor said quietly, watching the injured man on the floor, tensed and ready for pain. "How long has he been here?"

"He was ten years old when the Jedi Temple fell," murmured Siri. "We all believed him dead…" A tear trickled down her cheek. "But he's been here, all this time." She looked up at the Doctor. "Why him?"

The Doctor swallowed. He had a feeling why Obi-Wan had been spared the carnage. If it was true, it showed the level of depravity Sidious would go to ensure that his enemies suffered. In this universe, Obi-Wan had been deprived of a future, a future that should have been his. He had been condemned to darkness and pain because of actions he hadn't ended up doing. Sidious was punishing Obi-Wan in revenge for foiling him in the original timeline. That was callous and _evil_.

"Doctor?" asked Donna quietly.

The Doctor blinked and swallowed the large lump that had formed in this throat. "I don't know." He couldn't say. He just couldn't.

"I think you do know, Doctor," said Mace Windu.

He didn't reply to the statement, instead got down on his knees and leaned forward towards the injured man. "We're not here to hurt you, Obi-Wan. I know you've been hurt badly but we're here to rescue you and stop this from ever happening to you again."

The injured man just shook with pain and apprehension. He clearly didn't believe the Doctor's soothing words.

"We can't just leave him," said Garen quietly.

"But we can't take him with us," answered Windu carefully. "We're here to get the Doctor's Tardis back and destroy Sidious."

The Doctor glanced up and shot Windu a cold glare. "I'm not leaving him behind. If I can get to my Tardis, I can keep him safe while we try and fix this timeline mess."

"And if you do manage to repair some of the damage, what happens to us?" asked Bant carefully. "Will we forget this? Will we cease to exist? If our whole lives change, what is the point of rescuing our friend?"

"No, you won't," replied the Doctor. "I don't know what will happen when I fix the timeline. This universe may still exist as a parallel one; it may not. I don't know if the original timeline can be restored – most of it can be, but if you are having feelings about meeting me before and remembering that, then there is a link between this you and the old you which may make a complete restoration impossible. I can change it so it's a better life for all of you." He couldn't tell them they might be erased which was a scenario that was becoming likelier with each moment.

The Doctor gently placed a hand on Obi-Wan's shaking shoulder. He was terrified. Who wouldn't be after years of torture? Even if this Obi-Wan ceased to exist, the Doctor couldn't leave him. Not in a place like this. "Listen to me…" he gently explained, "we're not here to hurt you. We're here to rescue you. I know it seems impossible, but you're going home, Obi-Wan."

The words seemed to take a while to sink in, but the man's shaking lessened until he finally lifted his head, and slowly opened his eyes.

"Who… Who… are…. you?" asked Obi-Wan. His voice was barely more than a whisper, completely broken.

"I'm the Doctor."

"Why… are… you… here…?" he managed.

"We're here to stop Sidious," explained the Doctor. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

Obi-Wan managed to nod mutely.

With Garen's help, they hefted Obi-Wan to his feet. His legs could not take his weight so in the end it was agreed that Bant would levitate him. He was introduced to his rescuers but he did not recognise his childhood friends. It wasn't unexpected but even the Doctor noted that Siri Tachi seemed disappointed by this.

Donna prodded the Doctor on the arm. She seemed to be feeling a bit better now. Compared to Obi-Wan's captivity, Donna's had been relatively short. As they got Obi-Wan ready to leave the dungeons, she explained to the Doctor what had befallen her during their forced separation. "Once you were thrown out of the TARDIS, Sidious locked me in here. I've only been here a few weeks at the most… But Sidious changed years of stuff so why haven't I been here for years?"

The Doctor frowned: he had been mulling this question over already. "Have you seen Sidious since you were locked here?

Donna shook her head.

"He might have locked you here after doing the first stage of his plan, before he went back in time and changed the past again. He's lived through the last thirty odd years. Time changed around you, Donna. Bended around you. Or once he made that first change, the future he intended to make was already there so he could put you safely in that time and then go back and live it." The Doctor frowned. "That doesn't sound right to me." He ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up. "This universe just seems impossible."

"Yeah, didn't get a word of that," Donna confessed. "So is this impossible thing good or bad?"

"I hope it's a good thing… I'm hoping the Tardis can answer a few questions," replied the Doctor.

"Doctor!" Windu shouted, interrupted their conversation. "Are you ready to move forward?"

The Doctor nodded. "I am."

They moved toward the entrance of the dungeons.

* * *

"Lord Vader…"

"I sense a disturbance in the Force, Master," confirmed Vader as he knelt in fealty before his Emperor. One day, he vowed, he would be the one issuing the orders to his own apprentice. But he wasn't strong enough yet to overthrow his Master. One day soon he would be.

"I feel it too," growled Sidious, his hands clenching the arm-rests. "Force presences are also in range. They may try to hide from us but I can still sense their foul stench as they befoul my hallways. How did they get in here?"

No one had dared to attack the Emperor's home in years. Some had tried years ago, ultimately they had died a painful death for betraying their lord and saviour.

"What have they come for, Master?" asked Vader, his brown hair flopping across his face, his yellow eyes blazing with hatred but also anticipation at finally getting to destroy the Jedi that had survived his Master's purge.

"They come to destroy us, my apprentice," growled Sidious "But we will destroy them. This will be your test towards true Masterhood. Delay them, Vader, but ultimately bring them before me. I wish to spill some Jedi blood tonight."

Vader raised his head. "Yes, my Master." He rose from his position, turned his back and walked swiftly away, his black cloak rippling behind him. It was time to kill some Jedi.

* * *

Ahsoka paused. "Can you feel that?" she swallowed uneasily. "It's the dark side."

"They know we are here, no matter how much we try to keep our Force presence down," muttered Windu darkly. "We may have to retreat."

"No," the Doctor argued. "We've come this far, we can't go back now, else we won't be able to come here again. They'll find the entrance we came through. We're not leaving without the Tardis."

"Considering the state of our friend, retreat is the best idea," agreed Siri. She glanced back at the figure floating behind them, guided by Bant. "Obi-Wan doesn't have time to waste."

The Doctor sighed. "No, he doesn't, but if you want a better future for him then you have to help me get my Tardis back. I promise I can make things right as long as I get her."

Siri pursed her lips, looking ready to argue but Windu interrupted her.

"We will continue, Knight Tachi." His words were enough to silence her and she nodded reluctantly.

"Thank you," the Doctor inclined his head.

"Don't let us down, Doctor," was the reply.

"Have I let you down yet?" the Doctor asked. He nodded to Ahsoka to continue moving forward without waiting for a reply. They had to make progress. Whatever this dark presence was, if the Jedi could feel it, it was clearly coming for them.

* * *

Halfway towards the throne room, the Doctor began to get an inkling in his mind, a call to him through his telepathic bond with the TARDIS. He hadn't known where she had been stored so the team had been periodically making their way towards Sidious' location.

As the Jedi's role was to distract Sidious to give the Doctor time to get to his ship, the team had eventually split up – with Bant and the unconscious Obi-Wan staying with the Doctor and Donna. The rest of the team had followed Windu in a bid to draw out the dark presence that was tracking them.

It had been at this point the Jedi had activated their wrist-straps, making them invisible while they dashed for the throne room. Bant informed the Doctor that the dark presence seemed to focus on the larger team of Jedi – possibly because they were the bigger threat then they were.

Focusing on the tingling in his head, the Doctor took a risk and began to run, with Donna following quickly behind him and Bant pursuing them, with her lightsaber activated just in case they ended up in trouble with security.

"I can feel the Tardis," whispered the Doctor. "This way."

"How much further?" breathed Donna, managing to keep up with his quick pace.

"Not far at all." The TARDIS was practically singing in his mind, welcoming him home.

The Doctor rounded a corner, pointed his sonic screwdriver at a door, situated in the corner of the next drab hallway, unlocking the mechanism and dashed inside, skidding to a halt as his eyes fell on the form of his beloved TARDIS.

* * *

Vader stepped out from behind the pillar as the strike team arrived in his corridor. He couldn't see them but he knew they were there. The stench of the light side was enough to make him gag.

Tightening his grip on the hilt of his lightsaber blade, and letting the dark side energy channel down his arm, he outstretched his hand and pointed it at a point directly in front of him.

Screaming echoed back to him and he knew he had found one of the invisible Jedi. Whatever was making the Jedi invisible broke as the shuddering and screaming form of a female Togruta appeared. She was just a teenager.

Vader laughed. "Is that all you are sending, Jedi? A mere teenage brat whose control of the Force is non-existent?"

Four lightsabers activated and four forms appeared in front of Vader.

He smiled evilly as he recognised two of the most wanted Jedi that had survived the massacre at the Jedi Temple years ago. He threw the still shrieking form of the Togruta into the wall and advanced on his prey of four Jedi.

* * *

"She's okay," the Doctor said as he entered the TARDIS. It was nice to feel her familiar touch in his mind again. He walked over to the console while Donna helped Bant through with the unconscious Obi-Wan. They had put him in a Force-trance healing coma to help his body recover from the years of abuse it had suffered. Only Bant could bring him out of it and the team had decided it was better if he remained comatose until they could get him to a place of safety.

Hands running across the console, the Doctor started to input commands and destination. He knew that he had to confront Sidious but he could just go back to the point that was changed and alter it back to its original placement…

"Doctor?" Donna was pointing at the screen, having finished helping Bant settle Obi-Wan to the grating. "What's this?"

The Doctor stood beside his companion, eyes running over the words and numbers on the screen.

"What does it mean?" Donna asked. The TARDIS did not translate the on-screen Galifreyan for anyone.

As he read the screen, his eyes widened with each passing millisecond.

"Doctor? What is it?" pressed Donna, wanting an answer to her unanswered question.

The Doctor turned to face her, a big smile on his face. "Oh, I was right! What am I on about, of _course_ I was right!"

"What?" Donna attempted again.

"This universe isn't _real_! Of _course_ it's not real!"

Even Bant looked up at that, eyes widening in confusion.

The Doctor's face grinned even more, his eyes shining. "We're in a _bottle universe_!"

 **To be continued...**

 **Let me know what you think!**

 **There will be answers in the next chapter... Stay tuned! Will be posted next week!**

 **Until then,**

 **the-writer1988**


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N) Thank you for the reviews! This chapter explains the Doctor's realization at the end of the last chapter...**

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

Donna just stared at him with a dumbfounded expression on her face. "What do you mean this place isn't real? I'm flippin' breathing in it!"

The Doctor just kept that annoying smug-like smile on his face. "It was hitting me in the face! I knew I was right!"

"Are you gonna explain to us why this place isn't real?" Donna asked again.

The Doctor shook his head. "Err, sorry." He stood straighter and stared at the computer screen. "It was the TARDIS."

"What did she do?" queried Donna, sounding calmer. "What's a bottle universe?"

"A bottle universe is completely separate from the original universe. The timeline we originally landed in is still there. The TARDIS is sentient and eager to protect time. When Sidious had us trapped, she must've figured what Sidious was trying to do, and made it easy for him. Instead of allowing him to rip a hole in the fabric of reality and destroy zillions of lives, as a precautionary measure TARDIS created a bottle universe when I programmed her, that is, a universe in itself."

"A universe in itself?" Donna repeated, staring at him in a 'dribbled-on-her-shirt' sort of way.

"Okay…" The Doctor thought momentarily, before suddenly turning to pick up his bag of tools he kept by the console. He abruptly turned it upside-down and a menagerie of hammers and spanners fell out to the floor loudly. "This bag," he continued, waving it in the air. "You can see, touch and feel it. It's an object inside our universe. But imagine if this bag actually contained a whole different universe inside it. Little tiny versions of us running around. That's this universe. With me?"

"So… the TARDIS put us inside a bag," Donna summed up, frowning slightly. "Or… a bottle."

"Exactly," the Doctor said, nodding as throwing the bag over his shoulder. "But for some reason this one is linked to the original time-line. That is why some of the Jedi here have feelings that they have met us before – their subconscious is linked to their original selves. This whole universe is one massive paradox. It's unstable," explained the Doctor, his expression turning completely serious.

"Is that bad?" asked Bant quietly.

"Potentially yes," the Doctor replied.

"Are we going to die?" the Jedi healer continued. She didn't sound scared or worried.

"Technically you have not really existed. You are just fabrications by the TARDIS, with a mental link to your real selves. The only real people in this bottle is myself, Donna and Sidious," answered the Doctor. "This universe – even if it isn't real – is going to explode soon, the TARDIS can't sustain this. It's unstable and its time is running short. Donna and I can't be here when that happens."

"So we're just gonna leave them all to die?" Donna sounded angry.

"I have no choice, Donna. Bant… Obi-Wan…" he motioned to the two Jedi, "are not real. They carry real emotions, real memories because the TARDIS needed that mental link. If we try to save them, leaving this universe will kill them because they are not meant to exist. They are just fabrications made by the TARDIS to help convince Sidious of the reality of his surroundings."

Bant got to her feet and moved towards the Doctor. "But I'm breathing. How can I not be real?"

"Because that is how a bottle universe works. You are real in the sense you whole being is an imprint of a real being. When this bottle shatters, you will disappear but you will be unaware you ever existed."

"But Doctor, if they have feelings and recollections from the real versions, won't these memories of this bottle universe, go back to them?" asked Donna. "It's gotta be a two-way system."

The Doctor shook his head. "No. The real people won't remember. The only people who will know is us and Sidious. If this universe implodes, the TARDIS will save anyone who is alive from shattering with it. We should drop out in the corresponding location in the real universe."

"So, evil black cloak man could still do all his evil stuff?" pressed Donna. "Cos he doesn't deserve it!"

The Doctor nodded. "Unfortunately. Unless the TARDIS has something else up her sleeve which she isn't telling me about." He noticed Bant looking at him. He walked towards her, and knelt down, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. But I do need your help."

She stared at him for a short while before visibly swallowing. "What do you need?"

* * *

Her head ached from the forceful blow she had received to the back of the head when she had hit the wall and her vision blurred as reality slowly came back to her. Ahsoka groaned inwardly, feeling sick to the stomach. Her eyes opened more fully and she lifted her chin and her eyes focused upon the most ferocious lightsaber battle she had ever seen in her life.

She shouldn't have been here when Vader had struck. She was only meant to stay with the team until they came across the dark presence. Then it had been her job to run back to the Doctor and tell him that the Jedi had one of the Sith preoccupied. Where she lay slumped against the wall, there was no chance of her being able to get passed and give him a message.

Standing clumsily to her feet, Ahsoka reached for her lightsabers and activated them, ready to join the battle. Watching for an opening, she moved swiftly forward but something flung her back.

"Don't!" yelled Plo Koon, as he battled Vader, dodging a blow aimed at his neck. The Sith was fast, very fast and managed to counteract all the attacks thrown his way.

Ahsoka gritted her teeth. She couldn't just stand by and let Vader kill her Masters. The way he fought it was only a matter of time before he succeeded. And then she noticed his movement. He was leading them away from her, further towards the throne room. This had to be a trap. Sidious had realised they were coming and so wanted to face them on his own terms.

Vader was just toying with them. He wouldn't strike any of them down. He was just leading them slower towards his Master.

"We know, Padawan!" shouted Plo Koon over the blistering sound of clashing lightsabers.

Clenching her lightsabers tightly in her hands, Ahsoka took a running leap and Force-leapt over the fight, throwing one of her blades directly at Vader. It distracted him long enough for the Jedi Masters to push Vader back. Ahsoka landed on her feet, using the Force to bring her lightsaber back to her. She hadn't struck him, her aim had been to give the Jedi some edge in the battle. The least she could do was serve as a distraction long enough for the Jedi to prevent being lead into a trap.

She watched from the side once more watching for another opening when a wheezing sound and a brisk wind echoed around them and then a blue-box began to materialise around the Jedi and Vader.

"Masters!"

She watched in horror as the blue-box completely enclosed around the fighting Jedi and Sith. And then she was alone in the hallway with just the blue-box for company. What had just happened?

* * *

Vader raged, encased in a holding cell surrounded by the Jedi he had just been fighting. He still had his lightsaber. No matter how many times he tried to slash his way through the invisible barrier, he wasn't making any progress.

"If you would stop throwing a temper tantrum because I've got you in a cell, we might be able to get to the bottom of this…" the skinny man in a suit said.

Vader wanted to kill him. How dare he ruin his chances of killing the Jedi. He had waited years for a chance to rid the galaxy of the remaining vermin and it had been taken away from him by this skinny jerk. As he stared at the man's intense brown eyes, something stirred in his gut. He narrowed his eyes, and an image of the same man appeared in his mind's eye. He was standing in the console room of the skinny man's ship, laughing and joking with them alongside a man with a beard and who wore Jedi robes. Vader jerked back… "Impossible!" he yelled angrily. That had never happened before in his life!

"You're getting the same feelings like we've met before, right?" asked the man casually.

The man had to be Force sensitive. There was no way he would be able to plant a memory like that in Vader's mind unless he was. "What did you put in my mind, _Jedi_?"

The man burst out laughing. "I am much more than a Jedi, Anakin."

 _Anakin…_

That wasn't a name he had heard in a long time. Anger welled up inside him at the mere thought of that name. He had abandoned that name long ago when he had killed his mother. Oh yes, he had enjoyed that so much. She had been his first proper kill – a test to prove his worth as a Sith. He noted with some delight that the Jedi seemed surprised by the skinny man naming him.

"This is the Anakin you spoke of?" asked one of the soon-to-be-dead-by-Vader's-hand Jedi.

"It is. The universe I came from, Vader here was a Jedi Knight. He was the former apprentice of Obi-Wan Kenobi who was a Jedi Master on your council," explained the man. "Sidious had his eyes on him… turning Anakin to the dark side, but when he changed time, Sidious decided to nab Anakin as a young child and train him as a Sith."

Vader snarled. "I haven't been Anakin in years."

"You will be Anakin if you look deep inside yourself," the man urged.

"I'd rather kill you," replied Vader, venomously.

The man shrugged. "Too bad. You're not going to get that chance."

Vader clenched his fist. "I could choke you from here."

"You won't," stated the man.

Vader grinned evilly. "I can. And I will."

"Do it then," urged the skinny man, baiting him.

Vader clenched his fist tighter to take the man into a Force-grip stranglehold. But as he did so his mind was flashing with images – not of the life he remembered living but of a life he had forgotten he had lived.

The Doctor was choking in mid-air now, but none of the Jedi were doing anything to stop Vader from killing the skinny annoyance.

Vader could remember his name now. The anger in his heart was dissipating as his mind was assaulted with a wide range of memories – some from a childhood he must have lived but had forgotten. He had grown up with his mother on Tatooine… a slave to a Toydarian… only to be freed from slavery by the Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn and then apprenticed to Obi-Wan Kenobi no more than a week later… His mind flashed with images from his apprenticeships, showing him his deepening friendship with Chancellor Palpatine and then Vader saw himself as he was now, but instead of a Sith Lord, as a Jedi Knight with a young Togrutan girl at his side.

The Togrutan he had electrocuted outside the TARDIS, the one he had said to be weak…

And then the most horrifying image came to his mind: that of Obi-Wan Kenobi's battered body on the floor of the damp cell he had lived in for as long as Anakin could remember. And then he realised what he was doing to the Doctor: the Time Lord was off the floor, his feet dangling in mid-air, a hand around his own throat, fighting Anakin's grasp.

His fist unclenched and the Doctor fell to the floor, breathing in huge gasps of air.

"Do you think…. you could realise… a little sooner next time, Anakin?" gasped the Doctor as he climbed slowly to his feet.

Anakin shrugged. "Sorry." He found that the barrier holding him in place had disappeared and he stepped forward, only to be faced by several angry looking Jedi. He swallowed and raised his hands.

"How do we know we can trust you?" asked Windu, one hand clenched tightly around the hilt of his lightsaber. .

Anakin frowned. Clearly they hadn't got their true memories back.

"The TARDIS has overridden the personality he was given when she made this bottle universe," explained the Doctor. "Anakin still remembers being Vader but he has all the memories of his true self now. Essentially he is now on our side. He's the Anakin we know. The TARDIS created this bubble universe to save your real counter-parts from the horror Sidious was trying to unleash. This was her way to prevent a mind-numbing paradox from unfolding," finished the Doctor.

Anakin blinked. "So, basically, I just have the memories of a real person? I'm not real?"

"Exactly," said the Doctor. "When this universe fails to have ever existed, you will merge back with your other selves but they won't remember this. The TARDIS isn't happy with what Sidious has tried to do, so is willing to do anything to prevent him from ruining the other universe."

"What of this world's Obi-Wan? Is he okay?" queried Anakin.

"Other than being terribly injured, Obi-Wan is fine. The TARDIS decided to give him the memories of his true self as well. Though he isn't really in much of a state to help us fight Sidious," added the Doctor sadly.

Donna moved into the room, her hair tied back in a ponytail. "So what now?"

The Doctor grinned. "With Anakin's help, we go and confront Sidious."

* * *

The wheezing sound of the TARDIS reverberated around the throne room. Sidious' eyes widened as he recognised it. There was no way anyone could know of that ship…

He moved forward, his hands clenched in claws, his lightsaber hilt hidden up his sleeve. Whoever it was, was going to have a slow death. He fingers crackled with energy.

The blue-box appeared in the middle of the room and settled down, with the door opening seconds later.

Vader stepped out.

Sidious halted. There was something wrong… Vader didn't feel all dark… He was filled with light…

"Impossible…" he muttered.

And then out came the man he had thought he had disposed of., holding a controller in his hands. A remote device. Had the throne room been rigged? His eyes were hard as he moved past Vader.

"How did you survive?" hissed Sidious. At least he could destroy the Doctor.

The Doctor shrugged. "I'm quite hard to kill."

"But I killed you! I control what is going on here!" yelled Sidious, spit flying from his lips.

The Doctor smirked. How irritating. "That isn't the case. Aren't you wondering why Vader feels different to you? The people you are ruler of, are fabrications made by my ship to convince you that this is reality."

"You are lying!" yelled Sidious angrily.

The Doctor shook his head. "Nope. The TARDIS created this universe to stop you from causing a never-ending paradox. This is a bottle universe and it's close to shattering. Why do you think this timeline was able to withstand so many changes? But one question if you'll indulge me, you're several decades older then I last saw you. Donna hasn't aged…"

Sidious snarled, his fingers crackling with energy. "I instructed my younger self on what to do for years. I imprisoned your friend in the future. Once my younger self had taken over the world on my own instructions, I killed him. I took his place."

"Ah. And that is the bottle-shattering paradox that makes this place unstable. Killing your younger self – even a fake younger self – still leads to a catastrophic destruction of this own universe. You are an anomaly. Without your younger self, you shouldn't be here. The TARDIS allowed this to exist. This universe you have tried to create is impossible. If the TARDIS hadn't been quick enough to counteract you, then the real universe would be destroyed. You've failed, Sidious." The Doctor glared at the Sith Lord. "You've been governing over a fake universe."

"How dare you, Doctor!" snarled Sidious. He wouldn't believe anything this man said. The dark side would have told him if the world he had created was wrong. "I have done what the Force wished me to do! This universe is real and of my own making! Not of your pitiful ship! It's only use was getting me to this point in the first place! You may have turned my apprentice against me but you will die by my hand!"

It was then that Vader chose to speak – his voice was soft. "You can surrender and make this easy on yourself. No one has to die. You've made me do things that I will never have wanted to have done. The Anakin I am based after would never have loved killing his mother or enjoyed torturing helpless people!"

Sidious cackled, his laughter echoing around the room. "You enjoyed it, Vader, no matter what you try to say. I could feel the pleasure radiating from you in the Force. This Doctor has poisoned you. Once he is dead, you will see the truth of my words!"

The Doctor smiled, holding up the small device that was enclosed within his left hand. "Really? I press this big red button and everything goes boom."

"I can start again!"

Smirking, the Doctor bared his teeth. "Oh, really?"

His fingers flexed and he pushed the button.

 **To be continued...**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

 **If its not clear - the TARDIS basically saved the old universe by encasing Sidious in a bottle, thereby trapping him in a fake universe... and the people Sidious interacted with were not real... they were fakes which the TARDIS had some degree of control over which was why Vader suddenly became Anakin again because she used the real Anakin's memories and implanted them in the fake Anakin Sidious had molded into Vader...**

 **There are two more chapters to post after this... which will be posted weekly.**

 **Until then,**

 **the-writer1988**


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N) Updating early today because I have work tonight so won't be able to! This is the penultimate chapter...**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

A dazzling bright light consumed them. The Doctor stood in the centre of the light, the device in his hand glowing brightly as the world collapsed. A loud reverberating bang echoed, resulting in an explosion that streaked past them. Sidious tried to step back but had been rooted to the spot by the force of the change whipping itself them.

"What have you done?!" yelled the Sith, his yellow eyes penetrating the Doctor's, glaring assuring death at the Time Lord.

But the Doctor didn't waver, nor did his expression change. "The universe is restoring itself. You've lost, Sidious." His eyes glinted. "And you can't start again. You took the TARDIS from her designated pilot and tried to abuse her power. Now this is her revenge. You brought this on yourself."

"DOCTOR!"

The Doctor turned his head, only slightly, to see Donna standing in the doorway of the TARDIS, her fingers clutching the side of it, her hair whipping in the intense wind coursing around them. He nodded at her to speak.

"They've gone! All of them!"

"I know! The TARDIS has no need for fabrications she created! This whole universe is a manifestation of the TARDIS, set apart from the real universe, as a way to protect the residents of the universe affected by Sidious' actions!"

"It still… feels… like… they… were real people!"

The Doctor smiled sadly at her, taking his eyes off the Sith. He knew the TARDIS was keeping Sidious locked in place while the universe collapsed around them. It was safe for him to look away. "They were meant to feel that way!" he looked at Sidious, "to make him believe the reality in which he lived was real! The TARDIS doesn't like it when she is messed with! You are witnessing the sentience of my ship, Sidious!"

"I can still start again!" yelled Sidious, now starting to struggle against the invisible grip that kept him immobile. "The Jedi do not know my true identity!"

The Doctor grimaced. "I wouldn't start planning it!" He moved forward, a sharp grin spreading across his face. "I may have forgotten to mention this but we'll appear in the Jedi Temple, right in the middle of their training hall I believe!"

"So, that means old guy there," began Donna, pointing at the enraged Sidious, "will be discovered?"

"Oh yes!"

And then the flash of light that had engulfed them broke apart, shattering into a million pieces. They had the sensation they were falling but then their feet landed on solid ground and the surroundings slowly faded into existence.

The Doctor, Donna, the TARDIS and Sidious stood in the middle of the training hall of the Jedi Temple.

But they were not alone.

* * *

Despite being apprenticed to Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano still occasionally took a lightsaber class to help improve her skills. She needed to be quick on her feet and agile enough to quickly think about where she needed to go with her blades in the midst of battle. The training session allowed her to find that centre, flow deep into the Force and become one with its current, utilising it to help her survive battles and carry out a war without the loss of life.

She was only a year older than the trainees here – most would soon be picked by Jedi Knights to continue their training in a field and the lesson she had joined was a part of a set that helped hone their own skills so they didn't need to be trained on the battle field. They also used simulations to train in battle, real scenarios that had been carried out by Jedi Knights and had worked to giving them a win. Ahsoka wanted to continue to hone her technique and for that she had to practice.

Currently they were going through drills – something that wouldn't happen on the battlefield but one that helped teach younglings patience and to keep themselves attuned to the Force at all times regardless of the circumstances.

Ahsoka flicked her wrist, swinging her blade behind her in a technique that would have saved her life if she had been sneaked up upon by a battle droid, though it was difficult for the enemy to sneak up on them since their feet made lots of noise. They couldn't feel the droids in the Force either. They were not alive and though the Force would warn them of the imminent danger they wouldn't be able to perceive the extent of it before being caught short.

Suddenly a breeze cut through the hall and the trainees looked up in shock and horror as a groaning noise echoed around them as a shape began to materialise close to where Ahsoka was standing. She stumbled back, following the students but stopped next to the Knight training them, taking up a defensive position against whatever was invading their Temple.

If the enemy had found a way to teleport into their Temple…

Ahsoka shuddered. She didn't want to think of what the consequences could be if that were the case.

The wind stopped and in the centre of the training hall stood a blue box with a woman's ginger head poked out of the door, her hands clenched around the frame. Just in front of the box was a man in a tight brown suit with a grin of victory on his face, and just in front of him was a man in a black robe.

The stench of the dark side assaulted her senses. Ahsoka clenched her lightsaber blades tighter, fearing the worse.

"You're after a Sith Lord, aren't you?" the man in the suit shouted to them, as the doors to the training hall barged open and the Jedi Council rushed in, looking dazed but ready for action. All of them held their lightsaber blades. Behind them came Ahsoka's own Master, Anakin, his eyes wide in shock as he took in the scene before him.

The man continued to speak. "Here is your Sith Lord!"

Instantly the Jedi Masters rushed forward and surrounded the black clocked figure.

Anakin ran forward too, skidding to a halt in shock when he got a full look at the identity of the Sith. " _Chancellor?_ "

"Doctor! What is the meaning of this?" yelled Windu, his eyes cautious and wary.

The man Ahsoka presumed was the Doctor smiled. "I've found your Sith Lord for you."

"But… that's the Chancellor…" gasped Adi Gallia.

"And yet…" frowned Obi-Wan stepping forward, "I sense the dark side in him."

Ahsoka shivered. She had never felt such evil before. It repulsed her. She glanced at her Master and saw the shock on his face. In that moment she felt sorry for him because one of his closest friends had betrayed him. Keeping her lightsabers clenched tightly in her hands, Ahsoka kept herself ready. She needed to be if they were to take on a Sith Lord.

Perhaps there was an end in sight to the war after all.

* * *

Anakin swallowed and moved forward. "Chancellor? Is… the Doctor… right?"

An immense pressure seemed to erupt across the hall and finally the Sith Lord could move again. Turning slowly, keeping one eye focused on the other Jedi and one on Anakin, Sidious tried to smile, but it was a vile one.

"I can feel it…" Anakin stepped back, raising his lightsaber blade. "Everything… YOU'VE BEEN MANIPULATING ME!" He raised his blade.

"Anakin!" yelled Obi-Wan. "Don't!"

But the young Jedi didn't listen.

"SKYWALKER!" ordered one of the Council members.

The Doctor could sense the anger pouring out from the young Jedi. If he allowed Anakin to strike down the Sith Lord then he would fall to the dark-side, just like his bubble-universe self. He would fall and no one would be able to bring him back out of the dark hole he would have fallen in to. He saw in slow motion as Anakin rushed forward, anger pouring from him.

And the Doctor rushed in front of Sidious just as Anakin was about to drive the blade right into the Sith Lord, but the blade intended for the Sith sunk deep into the Time Lord's flesh instead, narrowly missing his left heart. The Doctor cried out, his knees buckling as he crashed to the ground as the lightsaber blade swung up, cutting through more flesh and exiting his body by the shoulder.

"DOCTOR!"

Anakin stared at the body on the floor, his body shaking. "What… what have I done?!"

Sidious cackled. "Well done, Anakin, you have taken the first step towards joining the dark side. First it was your slaughter of the Tusken Raiders and now it is your attempt to kill me that has sealed your fate."

Anakin growled.

The Doctor was still conscious but in a lot of pain. His hearts were beating like crazy – at least the lightsaber had cauterised the wound so he wasn't going to bleed to death but it was still painful. Donna's hands were on his back, and she was urging him to stay still, but he had to help. He had stopped Anakin from making a fatal mistake but they had to stop Sidious.

"Anakin…" the Doctor panted. "Don't… let… him… get… to… you. I've seen… what… you…could… become… if you… let the… dark side… take… a… hold… of… you. You have… to… stop… him… but… with… light… instead… of… darkness…"

Wooziness came over him and the Doctor collapsed.

* * *

It was at that moment, when Anakin was distracted by the Doctor's words, that Sidious acted.

He flung out his arms, Force lightening sprouting from his fingertips, striking each of the Jedi that surrounded him, flinging them off guard, allowing the Sith to make a dash for the exit. Sidious knew he couldn't win here. He dived through the door to the training hall and grabbed his lightsaber from his sleeve, igniting it, swishing his blade to the side, striking a young Padawan down.

He may not be able to escape or go back into hiding as the Chancellor now, but he could still try to take as many Jedi down with him as he could.

Still, at least that Doctor was dead. He may have ruined Sidious' identity to the Jedi but he would not live to see the Sith's end.

Alarms blared out around him, making escape from the Jedi Temple even harder. The whole place was in lockdown mode and Sidious knew there would be no escape. Not until the lockdown was lifted.

Glancing over his shoulder he saw Anakin and his infernal former Master in pursuit.

He could still turn Anakin. The young man was ripe with anger – if Sidious had to die today at least he would be able to ensure a successor to the Sith path.

* * *

The Doctor came to with a shout of pain. A pillow had been placed under his head and Donna was sitting by his side, holding his hand.

"If you can scream, you're alright then," commented Donna, trying to sound brave.

"God that hurt!" grunted the Doctor. He blinked, finding himself in the hall they had appeared in, only he was lying on the floor whilst someone – Bant - worked on his shoulder.

Windu knelt down beside him. "Perhaps you could explain to us what is going on, Doctor."

The Doctor winced. "Haven't you got a Sith… to chase?"

Windu harrumphed. "The whole Temple is on alert and other Master's are dealing with it. What I wanted to know is how you identified the Chancellor as the Sith Lord and why you appeared in the training hall."

"The training hall was his throne room… in the bubble universe," the Doctor managed. "It's… complicated."

"What's a bubble universe?" Windu's voice was hard and his eyes were uncaring. All he wanted was the answers and he wasn't going to leave the Doctor alone until he had them.

"Leave him alone, he's just been attacked!" Donna insisted.

"I need answers," Windu replied simply.

"We can do this later, all right?" Donna snapped, shooting Windu her most dangerous glare.

"Donna…" the Doctor croaked out.

"You lie back, relax and shut up, okay?" Donna ordered him, turning to Windu. "Old Stroppy Sith Lord found out we've got a time travelling machine, so he kidnapped me and forced the Doctor to go back in the past for him. He wanted to change the past, but the Doctor's ship didn't let him, she created this bubble universe - this universe that exists inside ours - so anything he did do wouldn't affect you lot. We were inside a crazy world where Sidious was head crazy, Anakin was evil and Obi-Wan was a prisoner."

Windu just stared at them in surprise. "It sounds impossible," stated Windu darkly.

"Yeah, not the first time we've heard that," Donna mused.

Windu frowned, leaning back slightly. "Some of us got an urge to come to the training room. And it felt dangerous."

"That was the TARDIS… using her mental link with you…" replied the Doctor. Blood dripped from his mouth.

"Master Windu, I need to work on my patient. If you wish to question him, it will have to wait until he is more stable. I can't work well if you are forcing him to talk," interrupted Bant before the Master could say another word.

Windu nodded reluctantly. "Very well. Whatever has happened here, Doctor, we expect a full report. Otherwise we will be able to intern you against your will."

The Doctor nodded slightly. "Just… Just… get… that…Sith… Lord."

* * *

Anakin had been the first to pursue with Obi-Wan following closely behind him. Sidious had already made big headway but for a Jedi it would be easy to catch up with him.

"ANAKIN! WAIT!" Obi-Wan's voice echoed out to him.

"I have a Sith to catch!" shouted Anakin in reply, not slowing down as he launched into a run up the hallway.

But something stopped him from moving as Obi-Wan used the full force of the Force on him.

Anakin turned and glared at his former Master. "Let me go! You're letting him get away!"

"I'm not letting you fall to the dark side." Obi-Wan stepped up to him. A few other Jedi Masters and Knights bounded past, all with activated lightsabers, chasing after the runaway Sith Lord. "I'm not losing you to him! That is exactly what Palpatine wants! He's had years to corrupt your mind and your swift actions back there only showed his work wasn't for nothing!"

Anakin took a deep breath in and breathed out. "Better?" he replied.

The Force grip lessened.

"Yes. Anakin, what the Doctor said…" Obi-Wan's face was pale as he spoke. "He's seen you as a Sith… Don't let him down. Whatever happened to cause the Doctor's ship to materialise in our training room with the very person we have been trying to hunt down must be bad. This is what the Council was afraid of. What if the Sith gained control of the Doctor's ship? What if that has happened but the Doctor has restored the time-line? What if… in this time line you were a Sith? What if… that path was still one you could fall down?"

Anakin sighed. He hadn't considered that.

"If you continue in your anger and frustration, Sidious will win, even if we do beat him. Because then I would have to fight you. And I don't want that to ever happen," explained Obi-Wan.

"Master…"

"Go." Obi-Wan nodded his approval. "Don't let me or the Doctor down."

Anakin nodded. "I won't."

Reaching deep into the Force, Anakin ploughed himself into the light, drawing on its strength before turning and running in the direction Sidious had gone.

* * *

By the time Anakin had caught up with the rest of the Jedi chasing Sidious, they were on the other side of the Temple, close to the gardens and near to the quarters of the younglings. Sidious had killed quite a few Knights already and seriously injured a few Masters. Despite a large amount of Jedi converging upon him, Sidious was far too powerful to be defeated even by a group of Jedi.

Anakin somersaulted into the fray, using the Force to push Sidious back into a separate room and speed in after him, quickly slashing the door controls on his way in. He had the feeling it was supposed to be just him and Sidious. Cries of dismay echoed from outside the door as Anakin enabled a shield to cover the door. Not even a lightsaber could penetrate the door now. He hoped they would understand.

"Anakin…" Sidious said, standing perfectly still in the centre of the room, his hood off revealing an older looking man.

"Chancellor."

"What are you going to do?"

Anakin smiled grimly. "Kill you, of course. Just as I am destined to do."

"And with my death you will gain power beyond your wildest dreams!" Sidious cackled. "The dark side will be yours to control!"

Anakin shook his head. "No. It won't be. I do not intend to fall." _Not like before…_

"I have already successfully made you my apprentice. I can do it again," growled Sidious.

"Manipulating me all these years does not make me your apprentice," stated Anakin, drawing on the Force to remain calm. He could not let Obi-Wan down.

"I do not mean that, boy," smiled Sidious. "Telling me that the Doctor's ship could travel in time was all I needed to know to make you my apprentice. If his infernal ship hadn't stopped me, you would have grown up at my side, fully capable in the powers of the dark side."

Anakin paled. "You tried to change time?" Whatever had happened was his fault… He hadn't meant to tell the Chancellor about the capabilities of the Doctor's TARDIS. It had been an accident but he had assumed he could trust him… He had been a fool.

"Any Sith would try to change time in their favour if the tool was there," explained Sidious. "The Doctor got in my way. I should thank you for killing him for me. It is one step closer to having you fall to the dark side of the Force."

"No," stated Anakin, drawing on his strength to resist those words. "I won't fall."

"You will."

Anakin shook his head. "I won't. Not if I can help it. I don't want to feel that power again!"

"Oh but you so enjoyed it when you were my apprentice…" laughed Sidious. He no longer held his lightsaber. He seemed so confident of success.

It was those words that trigged a range of images to course through Anakin's mind. He saw himself being trained in the dark side… killing his mother at Sidious' instructions… saw himself continuously torture Obi-Wan…

Anakin stepped back in shock, his hands shaking. What were those images?

He shook his head, trying to clear the images from his head. What mattered was what he had seen himself do, was something he never wanted to participate in ever. He didn't want to be that person.

" _Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering"_

Yoda's words from so long ago roared back into his mind.

And suddenly Anakin knew what to do.

"No. I will never be your apprentice," he stated calmly.

Closing his eyes he flowed deep into the white current of the Force, filling himself with love and compassion. His bond with Obi-Wan tingled in his mind and he felt his Master's strength filling him, just as his bond with Ahsoka reciprocated. She too was feeding him strength.

Then his love for his mother and his wife coursed through him and he let himself full fully into the grasp of the Force.

"What are-" Sidious began, but his words barely reached Anakin who kept his eyes closed.

Anakin felt himself leaping, twirling in mid-air, and he swung his blade as he landed. A shriek echoed around him and Anakin opened his eyes, seeing the Chancellor's face looking at him with surprise in his eyes. Anakin had become the living current of the Force. He had let it guide his actions, just as a Jedi was supposed to do.

And in doing so he had cleaved Sidious in two. He let go of the power engulfing him and watched as Sidious' body crumpled at his feet.

Finally, he could breathe easier.

 **To be continued!**

 **Please let me know what you think!**

 **One more chapter to post which I will post next Monday night!**

 **Until then!**

 **the-writer1988**


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N) Here it is the final chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

It was a few days after Anakin's murder of the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic that things slowly started to get back to normal. The Doctor had been confined to the Halls of Healing so he hadn't been able to inspect his TARDIS for damage, despite his protests. Thankfully, the Jedi Council had been far too busy dealing with the Senate to come and question him either.

Since they were at war, the Chancellor's death caused loads of problems, especially when the Separatists were quick to take advantage of the power vacuum by launching a lot of attacks on Republic systems. The Senate had been surprised to hear of the Chancellor's true identity but in some cases it also explained why a lot of Republic information had fallen into the hands of the Separatists. The Chancellor himself had been the one to supply them with the intelligence.

His Sith apprentice, Count Dooku, was quick to issue a statement that the Jedi would pay for their murder of his Master. The war wasn't at an end but there was a chance of ending it sooner through negotiation rather than by conflict. Some of the systems that had been duped into joining the Separatist cause were eager to return to the Republic, now that the true master of deception had been uncovered.

Two Senatorial candidates – the Doctor didn't know their names – had stepped in to help lead the Senate through the transition. However, the Doctor could sense that there would still be a lot of work ahead of them before the seat of power returned to stability. He and Donna would be long gone by then and wouldn't have to worry about the political ramifications their time in this galaxy had caused.

Five days after the defeat of the Sith, the Doctor was finally discharged from the Halls of Healing and was escorted by Anakin to the Jedi Council chambers where he found Donna already waiting for them. She pulled him into a hug. What she had seen had hurt her but Donna was a strong person and the Doctor had faith she would recover from her own ordeal. When they had permission to leave he intended to take her to a pleasure planet. They needed a holiday after this.

The Doctor noted that the Jedi Masters of the Council looked tired and they seemed to be in need of some good sleep. He expected with everything that had happened, it would be a long while before they could get some rest.

Mace Windu was the first to speak. "You have caused us a lot of trouble, Doctor. Yet your actions have given us hope. A way to potentially end this war. And you have stopped the Sith. Without your help we would never have pegged our own Chancellor to be the Sith Lord we have been looking for," continued Windu carefully. "You have helped save the Jedi Order."

The Doctor stood silent, wondering if he should speak. However it was Yoda who spoke next.

"Appreciate we would, if your story can be told, hmmm? Yes."

The backwards talking could really get on someone's nerve…

"What happened is all very complicated," started the Doctor, "and even I don't understand all of it." He turned to Anakin. "Can I ask you something?"

Windu gave Anakin his consent to comply.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "When you charged off after Sidious, you were still full of anger. What changed?"

"Obi-Wan spoke to me…" the young man answered, "and… I saw some images of myself, fallen to the dark side. I saw myself kill my mother – enjoying doing it too – being raised as a Sith apprentice. I saw myself torturing Obi-Wan… I didn't like what I saw and I knew that path – even if it would be different to what I saw – would happen unless I went into the fight engulfed in the power of the Force. I didn't want to become what Sidious wanted me to be. But… I don't know where those images came from…I guess they come from this altered time-line? Sidious mentioned to me that he had tried to change time… I guess that was a timeline you stopped?"

"It was a timeline that was protected by the TARDIS in a bottle – a small universe inside this one – to prevent Sidious from wreaking havoc across this timeline. Technically that universe has never existed – all that was inside it was created by the TARDIS. But universes expand and eventually the bottle shattered. We appeared in the training room because that was where we were in the bottle universe. But to make the timeline authentic to Sidious, I think the TARDIS tapped into your minds. She gave the alternate versions of you," he motioned towards the few Council members he had met in the altered timeline, "a vague connection to this universe. I think it was to help me. She could control their lifespans but she couldn't control their actions despite being responsible for creating these altered versions of you. When she had to, she gave you Anakin memories of being who you are now. There was a stronger link between yourself and your altered individual. Perhaps some of the people in this universe were real – but now they never existed. But their memories and what happened to them exist within the TARDIS and she had the power to be able to give you the memories of being Darth Vader. Whatever you saw came from that altered universe…" he bit his lip, "and I suspect it happened because the TARDIS didn't want you to fail. She doesn't like being used for evil."

Anakin frowned. "So your ship used me?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No, not used. Helped you. Any connection you had with her is gone, the same for all of you."

Anakin scratched the back of his head. He still looked confused. "I guess it _is_ complicated."

"It is," the Doctor agreed. He turned to face the rest of the Council. The sun was beginning to set, darkening the room ever so slightly. "Want a full comprehensive explanation?"

"I would hope you would, Doctor," said Windu darkly. "Now, please explain to us exactly what happened…"

The Doctor launched into an explanation as to what had happened for a good ten minutes before finally ending with, "and when I confronted Sidious, I shattered the bottle. The TARDIS kept me and Donna safe and took Sidious back to the real world. And then we appeared in the training hall, you lot had a bad feeling, and Anakin killed Sidious," smiled the Doctor.

There was a hush of silence around the Council as they contemplated what they had heard.

"Sidious knew about the TARDIS because of me," admitted Anakin quietly.

The Doctor looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"I messed up. I told him about the TARDIS being a time-machine. He promised he would keep it a secret…" Anakin swallowed. "I helped him."

"It's okay," said the Doctor, "it all worked out in the end… No serious harm done."

"Can I just say something, Doctor?" asked Donna, who had remained quiet since the Doctor had begun reporting to the Council.

"Sure."

Donna walked towards Anakin and then promptly slapped him.

"OW! What was that for?" asked Anakin, rubbing his arm.

"That's for getting me tortured!" She whacked him again. "That's for getting me in a cell!" And another slap fell. "And THAT is for making me hear while you tortured Obi-Wan!" Then another slap. "And THAT'S for stabbing the Doctor!"

Anakin cowered. "Sorry."

The Doctor gently guided Donna back to his side. She _really_ did need a long, relaxing break.

"You're lucky that there were not more severe repercussions from your mistake," noted Obi-Wan quietly from his chair. "But…" his eyes slid towards Windu.

"Your mistakes also led to you finding true Mastery within the Force," continued Windu. "We all felt it. You went for the light and that sustained you. You had become the Force itself – a being of light, dedicated to destroying the darkness…"

"You reached a state none of us have ever achieved," said Ki-Adi Mundi.

"For reaching that state shows true Mastery," continued Obi-Wan, "and there is only one thing we can do to reflect your change in power and what you reached for."

Anakin's mouth began to open.

"You can take a seat on this Council as a true Master if you so wish," finished Windu.

Anakin looked around at each person in turn before settling upon the Doctor. "What should I do?"

The Doctor was surprised Anakin was even asking him. "You need to do what is right, Anakin. What path suits you best?"

There was a long silence before Anakin answered the Council's request.

"As much as I've always wanted to be a Master, there is still so much I need to learn. This experience… and the lessons I've learned shows me I am not ready to sit among you…" Anakin put his hands together in his cloak. "For now, I wish to turn it down."

There was a collective nod around the circle.

"Place there is open to you always, young Skywalker," added Yoda.

Sharp gazes turned on the Doctor and he swallowed.

"Yes?" he asked politely, one eyebrow raising upwards.

"You have our gratitude, Doctor, for what you have done. We only wish that you could stay here to help," congratulated Windu.

The Doctor coughed. "That's a nice offer but I'm sure there are lots of other people out there who need me to help them."

"We thought you might say that," smiled Obi-Wan, "but let it be known that you will always be welcome in our Temple if you ever wish to visit us again."

Inclining his head in a gesture of respect, the Doctor nodded. "Thank you."

* * *

They were dismissed from the Council soon after, but the Doctor wanted to see Anakin. They walked along the corridor and then stopped, signalling to Anakin that they wanted a word with him. He looked wary at them, confused even.

"What is it?"

The Doctor smiled. "Nothing to worry about. But I wanted to talk to you about your future."

"Do I want to know about my future?" asked Anakin carefully.

"I'm not going to tell you anything about it, I'm going to give you some advice," replied the Doctor.

Anakin nodded. "Okay…" He moved to the side of the hallway, leaning into one of the pillars.

"When I first met you, a lot of timelines seemed to converge on you. But that's changed now. Though the potential's still there. You could still go down the dark path."

"But Sidious is dead…" said Anakin.

"Sidious may be gone but there are still other Sith out there. And the groundwork has been laid, Anakin. Don't just rush in, think about the wider picture before you do anything. Trust Obi-Wan, trust anyone close to you - don't push them away. If we'd never come here, Anakin, you would more than likely be in a very different place. Don't shut people out. It's the worst thing you can do."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Tell Obi-Wan the truth," stated the Doctor.

"About what?" a look of confusion crossed the young Jedi's face.

"Your marriage. And whatever you did when your mother died. Those are two secrets that you shouldn't keep to yourself. Trust Obi-Wan. If you don't, you'll become exactly what you hate," finished the Doctor. "Just… think about it."

Anakin was silent, looking down at his feet.

"Please?" asked Donna. "I don't want you to turn evil. I've seen it already and it's not nice, trust me."

"I'll be expelled from the Jedi Order if they knew I had married," lamented Anakin.

"Take a chance, live a little," said the Doctor, brightening up slightly with a smile before spinning on his heel to go back. "Good luck!" he finished, throwing a hand over his shoulder.

"Thanks," Anakin murmured quietly.

Donna gave him a brief smile, before rushing to catch up with the Doctor and tapping his good shoulder. "Oi, Spaceman."

"What?" he asked.

"Good advice you gave. Wanna listen to it yourself?"

The Doctor just shot her a look, before speeding up to leave her in the dust.

"Hey!" she cried, running to catch up with him.

* * *

The Doctor and Donna said their farewells to Obi-Wan and Anakin outside the TARDIS. Both of the Jedi wished them well, though Obi-Wan was a lot more stoic than Anakin was, who gave each of them a hug, thanking them personally for their help.

Just as they closed the door on their two friends, the Doctor noticed Anakin take Obi-Wan aside, asking to talk to him. The Doctor hoped the young Knight would be truthful. It would help prevent any darkness that still lingered in Anakin's future.

"Doctor?" Donna asked quietly from beside the console.

The Doctor started to pull levers down, preparing to take Donna to a beach planet. What could go wrong on a beach? "Yes?"

"Will they be okay?" she asked quietly. "Will… Anakin make the right choice?"

"I think he will," stated the Doctor. "But he'll always be tempted in some way. We all have a choice. But he's got Obi-Wan to help him."

"Family, are important," replied Donna. She looked down at her hands. Silence lingered a little too long.

"Donna? You're quiet," the Doctor said, concerned. "Okay?"

"Yeah…" she paused briefly. "…I wanna go home."

"Oh."

"Just to see granddad," said Donna. "I want to make sure he's alright."

The Doctor nodded, understanding. "Ok." Slowly he began to reset the co-ordinates for Planet Earth.

Donna moved up beside him. "Thank you."

With the Doctor at the controls and Donna at his side, the TARDIS faded into the time vortex, on its way towards its next grand adventure.

 **The End**

* * *

 **And its done! Finished!**

 **I hope everyone enjoyed reading this story and embarking on this path with me. It was a fun story to write but a lot of hard work! I don't think I will be attempting another crossover! Too much work... overall I started writing this fic back in 2013... its taken me this long to write it to completion and be happy with the thought of posting it. I'm glad I took my time but I think I prefer to stay in one fandom.**

 **Up next for me... well I seem to have been attacked by plot bunnies from Harry Potter so my writing at the moment will be focused on that however those of you that have read my Star Wars series will be pleased to know I am working on another sequel to 'A Mother's Love'. It will be posted hopefully in the first half of this year.**

 **And finally, THANK YOU TO reddwarfaddict. Without her this fic would never have happened or even finished. Without her criticism ad suggestions I wouldn't have been able to make this story good so thank you for that!**

 **Regards,**

 **the-writer1988**


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